What Type Of Person Thrives In Product Management According To A Product Manager At Bukuwarung
Garima, a Product Manager at Bukuwarung, identifies curiosity and "intellectual humility"—a willingness to gather information before making decisions—as crucial traits for success in the product management industry. Beyond that, strong communication, organizational skills, comfort with writing and data analysis, and approachability are also key attributes for a product manager to excel, fostering collaboration and effective execution.
Curiosity, Communication, Organization, Data Comfort, Approachability
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. Curiosity and Intellectual Humility: Successful product managers constantly ask "what can we do more?", "why did this happen?", and "how can we do this better?", favoring a data-driven approach over pre-conceived notions.
2. Communication and Organization: Strong communication skills to align stakeholders and achieve common objectives are essential, along with organizational abilities for planning, setting milestones, and ensuring projects stay on track.
3. Documentation, Data Comfort, and Approachability: Proficiency in writing and comfort with interpreting data (without needing advanced analytical skills) are key. Being approachable fosters better teamwork and feedback.
Transcript
How would you describe people who typically thrive in this industry?
The first is definitely curiosity, the need to know: What can we do more? Why something happened? How can we do this better? I think people who focus their energy on these three questions are more likely to come up with answers.
If you go in with the mindset that you have ideas and you know how to solve a problem, you are more likely to get it wrong. If you go with the approach that you want to know what is happening, gather information, and then make the best decision, that's more likely to bring success.
So it's a combination of curiosity and intellectual humility. The second part, which is more tactical, is communication skills. Knowing how to speak to people to ensure you have a common objective and can align all stakeholders is very critical.
This includes someone who is good at organizing and planning. That's a big part of a product manager's life because you have to set milestones, get everyone to agree to them, and then hit them. Organization becomes a big part of your experience.
The third thing is someone who does not shy away from writing. There is a lot of documentation work as a product manager, and it's one of the less glamorous aspects. But writing is again a big part.
Someone comfortable with numbers is also important. You don't have to crunch numbers or be a financial or data analyst, but you should be comfortable looking at data and interpreting it. You should be comfortable looking at revenue numbers to see if your initiatives are making an impact. That kind of comfort with numbers should exist.
Finally, you should be someone your team can really approach. A product manager who is approachable is more likely to get feedback sooner and get more relevant feedback. The idea of being approachable is very important.
So, that's how I would think of people I've seen to be successful in this industry.