Most Important Skills for a Senior Product Manager at a Technology Support Company
Vinnie, a Senior Product Manager, identifies three crucial skills: "curiosity" to investigate hypotheses and validate them with data, "persuasion" to effectively advocate for products and user needs, and a "detail-oriented" approach to prevent small issues from escalating into larger problems. These skills highlight the need for a proactive, data-driven, and meticulous approach to product management within a technology support environment.
Communication, Problem-Solving, Data Analysis, Project Management, Persuasion
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Vinnie Shahzad
Senior Product Manager
Mid-Size Technology Support Company
UCLA, 2006
N/A
Engineering - Aerospace
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
Video Highlights
1. Curiosity to ask questions and validate hypotheses using data, sometimes requiring in-depth research and development of tools for data gathering.
2. Persuasion skills to effectively communicate ideas and generate excitement for products, advocating for user needs.
3. Detail-oriented approach to identify and resolve potential issues early in the process, preventing larger problems down the line.
Transcript
What sort of skills are most important for product managers?
There are three skills that are really important for product managers. The first is curiosity.
You have to be willing to look into things. You start from a hypothesis and then validate it through data, so you need that curiosity to ask questions and find the answers. This sometimes takes a lot of work to dive into the data, and you might even have to build things to get the data you need.
The next most important skill is persuasion. You have to be able to talk to people about your ideas because even if you make the best product, if no one uses it, it's no good. You have to persuade people to use what you provide and make them excited about it.
Lastly, being detail-oriented is crucial. You need to cross your t's and dot your i's and ensure everything is perfect. Any small issues in your plan can grow exponentially down the road. What might be a small fix early on becomes a much bigger problem if engineers have already halfway developed it.