Most Important Skills for a Product Manager at Bukuwarung
Garima, a Product Manager at Bukuwarung, emphasizes the importance of "good communication and social skills," including understanding unspoken needs through empathy, both with customers and internal teams. Data analysis skills and "structured thinking" are also crucial for translating feedback into actionable product features.
Communication, Empathy, Data Analysis, Structured Thinking, Problem-Solving
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Garima Yadav
Product Manager
Bukuwarung
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India (graduated in 2017)
UCLA Anderson School of Management (Full Time MBA, current student)
Engineering - Electrical
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
International Student
Video Highlights
1. Good communication skills are essential for conveying information clearly and efficiently. It involves understanding the other person's perspective and having clear objectives.
2. Empathy is crucial for understanding both customers' unsaid needs and internal team constraints. It helps in setting realistic expectations and building strong working relationships.
3. Data analysis skills and structured thinking are vital for making informed product decisions. Being comfortable working with data and translating insights into actionable plans is key.
Transcript
What skills are important for a job like yours?
Communication is definitely important because you are at the center of all these conversations. If you're not a good communicator or if you're inhibited from having these conversations, you're more likely to create confusion and go back and forth with people.
Getting comfortable with communicating is very important. Often, people confuse good communication with being overly talkative. You don't need to be an extravert; you just need good communication and social skills.
You should be able to understand what the other person is trying to say. Be clear about what you both need to exchange and the end result of the conversation. Understanding the objectives when communicating is what I mean by communication skills.
The second aspect is empathy. While it can feel like a buzzword, it's critical. When talking to someone, you should understand what they aren't saying.
Your customers might express a desire for a certain feature that would make their lives easier. However, subtle cues they don't voice might be missed. These could be things blocking them that they may not even realize. Identifying these requires empathy and the ability to ask probing questions.
Empathy is also internal. When working with engineering, data, or design teams, setting realistic timelines is crucial. You need empathy to understand why your engineering team might push back on something. Empathy is critical on both fronts.
Finally, working with data and having a structured thought process is very important. When I started, I wasn't a data expert and relied on raw instincts. Getting comfortable with looking at data and approaching it with the idea that it adds value to decision-making is essential.
Even if you're not an expert, being comfortable with working with data puts you in a good place to be a product manager. Structured thinking is important because you need to translate information from data or customer and sales feedback into actual product feature requests. That's how I would divide these three buckets.