https://amitch5903.medium.com/the-5-different-types-of-product-managers-12a841cae8d2
Which one are you (or do you want to be)?
Almost every time I do an AMA, speak at a conference or teach a class to aspiring Product Managers, I get a form of this question:
What skill sets do you think are mandatory for Product Managers in technology?
The question is a good one, but is far too broad for a tweet-length reply. For that reason, I’m dedicating this post to starting the conversation.
First, we’re going to take a step backand look at the different types of Product Managers I’ve seen in my career before sharing the skills (while not quite mandatory) that I see as incredibly important and correlated with success as a Product Manager.
Keep an eye out too for an upcoming talk at Product School’s DC launch on the topic and a webinar that goes into even more depth!
Finally, I’ve borrowed parts of this blog post from my book, **Building Digital Products (2nd Edition).** If you’re an aspiring, a new or even an experienced Product Manager looking to level-up, I’d suggest grabbing a copy!
One of the most interesting aspects of the Product Manager role is that people with very different backgrounds can succeed in very different ways.
However, there are some more common Product Manager archetypes that I have observed and would like to share to illustrate the breadth of personalities and skillsets in this career.
This is by no means an exhaustive list and Product Managers come in many, many, forms. Some may not even have the title Product Manager.
The Technical Product Manager was almost always a developer before they moved to Product. They also weren’t just a developer, they were one of your best developers.
As a developer, they understood what could be shipped quick and dirty and what was worth investing significantly more development time on. They had a product manager’s instinct even before moving to Product.
The Technical Product Manager is an incredible asset for every Product team. What they may lack in strategic insights or marketing aptitude, they make up for with their ability to build strong relationships with developers and maximize team output.