What does a product manager do: advantages and disadvantages

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The popular profession of product manager raises a number of questions for many: what does this specialist do, what knowledge and competencies should he have, what companies can he work for. We will answer these and other questions in our article.

A product manager is a specialist who studies products and services in the consumer market, develops strategies and product development plans. Their main task is to create a product that will be in demand by the consumer and will bring money to the business. Simply put, a product manager is responsible for the success of the business. A product can be any product, but most often these are IT services, programs and applications.

What functions does a product manager perform?
Controls and manages processes related to market research, trend analysis, product development and changes.
Analyzes product indicators - number of sales, customer reviews and returns, profitability and turnover.
Works closely with sales, marketing, and customer service departments to obtain information about the needs of the target audience, errors and problems in the product, and competitive analysis.
Develops a product development social media marketing service strategy, makes a forecast of payback and profitability. Responsible for achieving profit and sales targets.
Searches for distribution channels  new areas of application, determines sales conditions.
Monitors new discoveries, best practices, analyzes potential risks in the area of ​​his product.
Monitors the product life cycle, updates and improves it if necessary.
Product managers are present in any company, regardless of its size and type of activity. In small organizations, this role is most often performed by the director himself. In large and multi-product companies, separate specialists are hired for each product.

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What qualities should a product manager have?
Have marketing and design thinking to create a product that will be useful to the buyer.
Have developed empathy to fully immerse yourself in and feel the product, and understand the consumers who will use it.
Possess management and communication skills to set goals and interact with clients.
Be able to analyze information and make decisions for product development and conflict resolution.
A product manager is one of the key positions in a company, which most often goes beyond the operational tasks of the business. Such a specialist combines knowledge in many areas, from analytics, marketing to design, the ability to work in multitasking mode and be responsible for the result.

Advantages of the profession:
Demand in the labor market.
Interesting tasks.
A wide range of responsibilities, no routine.
Flaws:
Reworking is possible.
Increased stress and risk of burnout.
We asked Alexey Ivakin, a product manager who has been working in product management for 8 years, and is the author and teacher of the courses “Product Management”, “Product Management in Public Administration”, and “ UX Design ”, to talk about the role of the product manager .