Two things here. On the execution side, launching products from scratch is what I have enjoyed the most. You get the opportunity to align and iterate on the acquisition, pricing, and the broader value prop of the product. Managing a team of great PMs is the other thing I enjoy. They have taught me a lot and this has helped me gain different perspectives on solving problems.
Written communication. Writing clear and understandable requirements is what I struggled with the most. Things that I thought were absolutely clear, weren't that clear to my audience. Plus, I missed few scenarios in the requirements when I started out as a PM. Creating a master list of scenarios and considering those early in the process helped me create comprehensive requirements. But overall writing quality improved (and is still improving) only with practice.
The biggest myth I have come across is the belief that there is one right way of doing "Product Management". Depending on the nature of the company and the stage of product one works in, I think there are varied flavors of PM. A process that might work great in one product might not necessarily be a fit for another product. There are best practices, yes, but there are a significant number of exceptions as well.
I have experienced for myself. One, I know what my users want and hence I don't need to talk to them. Two, relying only on data to make decisions. Three, waiting to act until there is no ambiguity and everything is figured out. Four, launching the first version, but not iterating on the product further.
User researcher. I would argue that understanding user is the single most important skill of a PM as well.
Product management is not a standalone field. A good PM understands the basics of UX, tech, marketing, data analysis, and user research. And all of this learning is accelerated by how well a PM can work with others in the team.
Two things here. On the execution side, launching products from scratch is what I have enjoyed the most. You get the opportunity to align and iterate on the acquisition, pricing, and the broader value prop of the product. Managing a team of great PMs is the other thing I enjoy. They have taught me a lot and this has helped me gain different perspectives on solving problems.
Written communication. Writing clear and understandable requirements is what I struggled with the most. Things that I thought were absolutely clear, weren't that clear to my audience. Plus, I missed few scenarios in the requirements when I started out as a PM. Creating a master list of scenarios and considering those early in the process helped me create comprehensive requirements. But overall writing quality improved (and is still improving) only with practice.
The biggest myth I have come across is the belief that there is one right way of doing "Product Management". Depending on the nature of the company and the stage of product one works in, I think there are varied flavors of PM. A process that might work great in one product might not necessarily be a fit for another product. There are best practices, yes, but there are a significant number of exceptions as well.
I have experienced for myself. One, I know what my users want and hence I don't need to talk to them. Two, relying only on data to make decisions. Three, waiting to act until there is no ambiguity and everything is figured out. Four, launching the first version, but not iterating on the product further.
User researcher. I would argue that understanding user is the single most important skill of a PM as well.
Product management is not a standalone field. A good PM understands the basics of UX, tech, marketing, data analysis, and user research. And all of this learning is accelerated by how well a PM can work with others in the team.