If you are a PM, tell us your daily job and what are your thoughts?

Software Engineer

Product managers are a divisive bunch. Ask us what we do, and most of us puff our chests and babble about Steve Jobs, PMF and godknowswhat. The rest slouch and mumble something about writing JIRAs....

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

Product managers are a divisive bunch. Ask us what we do, and most of us puff our chests and babble about Steve Jobs, PMF and god-knows-what. The rest slouch and mumble something about writing JIRAs.

Curious about how non-PM folks view us - both good and bad!

What do you think of Product Managers?

Product Manager

What do you think of Product Managers?- Grapevine

Coding is like solving 2+2 but coders take pride in the fact that you do it in English but I can do it in Sanskrit.Iykwim. I have coded for two years and as long as you're well versed in a language it's like making simple additions and subtractions in that language. Still coders make mistakes because they're lazy and incompetent like the rest of us . 80 percentage of coders just solve basics and still act like it's a big deal . Product Managers are not special I get it but coders are not special too just by knowing a language. It's like a bilingual person shitting on someone who knows just one language. When we all know if you're brought up in a certain way it's very easy to speak in two languages like we all do in India.

Why do people shit on product managers

Welcome to Product Managers's Private Community

I've been working as a Senior Analyst at a startup for 4+ years, and I've always wanted to become a Product Manager to make a big difference. So, I've started getting ready for it.

- I've noticed a concerning trend among PMs, both through personal observation and online discussions, where they tend to overlook data integrity, opting instead to manipulate it to portray success.


- I firmly believe that Product Managers play a pivotal role in taking calculated risks, fostering innovation, and ultimately ensuring the success of their products.


- Despite being well-compensated in my current position, my drive to optimize the top of the funnel compels me to pursue a career shift into Product Management.


- I firmly believe that power within a company comes with a corresponding responsibility.


- It's evident that many PMs are fighting with dissatisfaction, often experiencing high levels of stress and unhappiness. I'm keen to understand the root causes of this discontent and how professionals in this field are managing such challenges.


- Despite being inherently talented individuals, why does Product Management seem to come with such a significant stress burden?

Should I get into Product Management?

Consultant

When asked at the end of the interview, what questions do you generally ask the interviewers? There can be two types of interviewers, one from the PM org and the other from the engineering org (in later rounds) and usually senior folks. What type of questions can be asked to both types of panels?

PM interviews: What questions do you generally ask interviewers after the interview?

Welcome to Software Engineers's Private Community

Hello, thanks for your patience. As someone from the creative industry I’d like to understand what product managers do exactly. 

What kind of companies hire Product Managers? 

As someone who has dwelled in copywriting, films, ads, and handling film production I’m looking to change towards Product Management. 
Are there any skills transferable to this professions? 

Appreciate your time.

Product Managers: What do they do?

Marketing Creative

**The Good**

Let’s start with the positives, even though they are much better documented. It’s pretty easy to “fake it till you make it.” I am not alone in feeling the imposter syndrome. Yet, a huge part of being a PM is just asking good questions, learning, listening, and trying to be impartial. Coincidentally, that is exactly what you should do when you don’t know what you are doing—just try to learn. 

And honestly, it’s really fun. People like to harp on the challenges and skills you need to be a PM, but I feel like no one talks about how enjoyable the job is. You’re in the middle of strategy, business, design, and customers. Every day is about solving problems. It is hectic, yes, but it is also very rewarding. 

There’s another thing: people like you. It’s shallow to admit it, but the truth is, as a PM, you are delivering value to your company and stakeholders. People appreciate that. 

**The Bad**

But let’s not sugarcoat it; it’s exhausting. Even if you’re an extrovert (which I am not), spending hours in meetings, collaborating, and navigating requirements is exhausting work. The pressure can be overwhelming.

When you do badly, it all goes badly. When things are in sync, being a PM feels almost easy. But when the wheels start to come off, it is brutal. Deadlines get missed, you screw up MVPs, you piss off stakeholders, and you feel backed into a corner. It really isn’t fun to let down other people, but it really sucks when you let yourself down. Since so much of the PM job is interacting with internal and external stakeholders, your successes often feel hidden while your failures feel public. A lot of times, it’s because of things outside of your control too.

And then there’s the hard part: saying no. You have to say no a lot as a PM. Often, it is to people that far outrank you, like your CEO. There are countless books written about this topic, but no one is open about the fact that saying no kind of sucks. It feels good to give people what they want. Even though saying no is the right thing to do, that doesn’t make it easy or fun.

What are some truths (good and bad) about product management that noone talks about?

Let's face it. In some company (read mine) they are the gatekeepers of all things roadmap, obviousness, communication between engineers and business. While in some companies they are nothing but a left over thought acting no more than a typical Program Manager (Google and how Engineers have more say and power in roadmaps).

What are your thoughts on your PM?

Ask Engineers: Thoughts on Product Managers?

Tech Lead

Question to all the software engineers. 

What are some traits of the best PMs you have worked with - could be a behavioural aspect / work ethic / knowledge of the domain etc.

Engineers' views on Product Managers

What does a product manager actually do?

Worst part of being an APM is to get a bad PM as a manager who only does project management and doesn't take or care about your inputs. The project managers who dont understand anything about product management and clear interviews  based on their sheer blabbering skills, jargon and experience but think they are the be all and end all of everything.

Product Managment Rant

Associate Product Manager

Consultant, Investment Banking went from sought after careers to fads post 2008 crisis when the world realized that these folks are crooks due to their role in propogating the Great Financial Crisis.

Given the backlash tech companies has been getting and global layoffs, will Product Manager also become a passing fad?

Seeing lot of anti Product Manager sentiment on this app off late. Was Product Management also a fad?

Someone here said engineers can become PM but PM can't become engineers. It can't be more correct than this. But reality is, it sounds goods only in theory.  
  
  I asked this same question to my director, why have you hired us when engineers clearly know more about products than us and are capable?  His answered that before the organisation formally created a team of product managers, it was only engineers that were handling product for decades. But that resulted into substandard products being developed, chaotic product release and consistent drop in revenue. The reason being engineers became backlog managers and engineers beging engineers, never focused on business value. Instead, they focused on technical aspect heavily. Engineers never bothered to check if what they were developing will actually sell in the market or not.  
  
 And mind you, this was a product that all of us use in daily lives. The numbers of users in India alone would be millions. So to summarise, yes, engineers can become PMs but generally they stay loyal to their pedigree of BE/B.Tech and become very shitty PMs. They like to have more technical conversations than strategic discussions and hate things that are not quantifiable, subjective. And business facing people here in forum would know, things are always not quantifiable in business planning, market outlook. It is based on assumptions.  
  
 An excellent PM would be someone who is an engineer but knows how to focus on business value of the product, make it customer oriented etc. I had the pleasure of working of one such PM in my last stint and he was truly outstanding. CEO knew him personally and this is in an organization with thousands of employees

Program Manager

I have been lately curious about the two PMs (Product Manager vs Program Manager).
If anyone can help with answer to these questions that would be great

Does your company have both roles?
If yes, are salaries for both on par.
If not, who gets more salary

Product Manager vs Program Manager

Would you rather be an Engineer learning how to Product or a Product Manager learning how to Engineer?

Answer is obvious mate. And it's already in motion. 
 Everyone knows current product management breed is a messed up fraudulent bunch. They will run into poverty if they don't change ways🙂

Founding Engineer

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

As a PM I would say it is to delivery high quality product in less time. 🕰️

What is the biggest problem you face in your daily job? Please mention your role as well.

Welcome to IT Company Discussion's Private Community

How does it feel to be a product manager do they really work or just act like they are so busy ?

Founder

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

Query- what do PMs on grapevine think about product management

Growth Manager

Do you think pure product managers with no technical background add value to your company? Aren't experienced project managers with penchant for business more suitable for this role?

Do you think product managers with barely 2 years of experience required in your company?

Analyst

Note - I am a product manager too

4 out of 5 product managers will act all high and mighty of themselves, bragging their way as if they run everything going on in the company, flaunting their business degrees and being utterly disrespectful towards their team( dev design qa name it), 

Recently started going to office so the attitude I am seeing is very transparent and more visible (more with the higher experience folks)

It makes me wanna leave this hyper inflated role, thinking of I will end up like them scares me, and you have to do is speak out jargons in meetings day in day out and have a English accent of Shashi Tharoor.

Recently my manager told that this is a role where you have to very representable or very visible and act in floor as if you are the busiest person on earth and I seriously some PMs in company doing that, they walk so fast in floor as if they will fall off or would be better to have 4 legs.

I am done with this product management shit

I have been sooo interested in Product Management, as an outsider with no technical knowledge but all the passion for it.
I intended to become a Product Manager taking the hard route (non technical background), but at this point I am still looking to learn more about it. Please share your thoughts, experience and tips?

What do you think of Product Managers?

Discover More

Misc on

by Kendall Lee

Google

Why do people shit on product managers

Product Managers on

by Aaron Olive

Stealth

Should I get into Product Management?

Product Managers on

by Kendall Lee

Stealth

PM interviews: What questions do you generally ask interviewers after the interview?

Software Engineers on

by Kendall Lee

Stealth

Product Managers: What do they do?

Product Managers on

by Isaiah Dean

Stealth

What are some truths (good and bad) about product management that noone talks about?

Software Engineers on

by Karilyn Denver

InMobi

Ask Engineers: Thoughts on Product Managers?

Indian Startups on

by Jordon Nadeen

Stealth

Engineers' views on Product Managers

Product Managers on

by Kendall Taye

Student

What does a product manager actually do?

Product Managers on

by Jordon Dean

Stealth

Product Managment Rant

Indian Startups on

by Karilyn Nadeen

Stealth

Seeing lot of anti Product Manager sentiment on this app off late. Was Product Management also a fad?

Product Managers on

by Jordon Lee

Rakuten

Product Manager vs Program Manager

Product Managers on

by Matilda Dean

Gojek

Would you rather be an Engineer learning how to Product or a Product Manager learning how to Engineer?

Business Roles on

by Matilda Taye

Freelancer

What is the biggest problem you face in your daily job? Please mention your role as well.

IT Company Discussion on

by Kalan Vernon

Google

How does it feel to be a product manager do they really work or just act like they are so busy ?

Office Gossip on

by Kendall Lee

Linkedin

Query- what do PMs on grapevine think about product management

Software Engineers on

by Jordon Denver

Stealth

Do you think product managers with barely 2 years of experience required in your company?

Office Gossip on

by Coy Gabriel

Stealth

I am done with this product management shit

Product Managers on

by Jordon Denver

Deloitte

What do you guys do?