You must have come across numerous individuals with the title ‘Product Manager’ on their LinkedIn profiles. At some point, you must have wondered, “What exactly is a product manager?” ”What do they do?” “What are a product manager’s daily tasks?” “What does a typical day in the life of a product manager look like?”
To answer all your questions regarding product managers, we have explained in detail what a product manager is and what a day in the life of a product manager looks like.
What is a product manager?
A product manager is an individual responsible for the development of products in an organization. They lead a team of product developers and make all the important decisions regarding the product, from the beginning to the end of the product development cycle.
For example, if Apple wants to design a new iPhone, a product manager will lead a team of hardware and software professionals. The product manager will make important decisions like the design of the phone, the RAM and CPU, the cameras, and other aspects of the phone.
In terms of team structure, a project manager’s daily tasks don’t involve working on product engineering, marketing, and designing. Rather, a product manager acts as the leader of the engineering, marketing, and designing teams. They make critical decisions to ensure that the products are being built the right way.
To understand what a day in the life of a product manager looks like, we have to take a look at the roles and responsibilities associated with the job role.
Roles and responsibilities of a product manager
The project manager is the go-to person for the product development team. Product development cannot move forward without the product manager’s approval. They constantly communicate and collaborate with different teams involved in the product development process.
Here is a look at the major roles and responsibilities of a product manager:
- Collect data to ideate new products and features. Decide which products are worth investing in.
- Analyze competitors and the market scenario to develop products better than the ones currently available.
- Determine the product vision and develop strategies to achieve it.
- Chalk out the product roadmap and define the product positioning.
- Effectively communicate the product vision to the marketing, sales, development, and engineering teams.
- Make key decisions regarding product design and development during the entire product development life cycle.
- Manage product testing and find out shortcomings in the product.
- Ensuring fixing of the issues and making other necessary improvements to enhance the usability of the product.
- Coordinate with different teams regarding product launches.
- Oversee the product throughout the product life cycle.
Now, let’s take a look at a day in the life of a product manager.
What are a product manager’s daily tasks?
A product manager’s day is typically long and can start even before work hours. Before reaching the office, a product manager typically checks their email to check for important messages that may have arrived after work hours. They also check the organization’s communication channel on Slack or other platforms they might be using. If it is a high-priority message, a product manager responds immediately. This can take around ten to fifteen minutes.
Upon reaching the office, a product manager checks their tasks lined up for the day. They then start working on the tasks based on their priority.
Meetings are an indispensable part of a product manager’s life. Product managers usually have to attend a meeting or two daily. Usually, the meetings are held in the morning session. The product development team members provide updates on the products and inform the product manager of the things they have planned for the current day. The product manager shares their thoughts and opinions regarding how the product development is playing out. The meetings generally last for half an hour to an hour.
Similarly, every week, the product manager has a product review meeting with the top executives, board members, and the rest of the product team. During the product review, the product manager provides a presentation regarding recent product launches, their performance, upcoming launches, market surveys, progress on products in development, and other things. These meetings are generally lengthy and can last for one to two hours.
Around noon, the project manager has a lunch break which lasts for half an hour to an hour.
Back to work!
During the second half of the day, a product manager typically works on tickets regarding the product. They update the open tickets, providing the required solution to make sure the product works as intended. They then close the tickets. There can also arise a need to reopen a ticket, if the product manager notices any issues or if it needs some extra work.
This task usually consumes two to three hours.
The next hour is spent interacting with the product development team and checking on the progress of the product development. Product testing is carried out to see if it is working as intended. The product manager assesses the situation of the product and checks which parts of the product can be improved upon.
The final work hour can involve another meeting with product development team members or answering tickets. The final task includes answering any emails or messages that are pending response.
Conclusion
We hope that this blog has provided ample information regarding product managers, what are their roles and responsibilities, what they do, and their daily tasks.
If you want to learn more about product managers directly from established product managers from different industries across the country, Join the Seekho Select Membership to learn Product Management or download our app today to know more!
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