'Technical Product manager' is a variation of Product manager's role and as name suggest expects the candidate to be technically strong apart from being able to perform regular product functions. A general misconception is that a 'Technical product manager' (TPM in following occurrences) need to know how to code. While it is true that a TPM should have good understanding of the product he is managing from the technical standpoint like - API standards the product is using/offering or what the data model for the product is, but as a TPM you are never expected to code even though you might know coding. TPM is expected to get deeply involved in the design and architectural discussions to shape the product as customers need it. You should know the capabilities and limitations of the your technical stack. This in turn will empower you to take decisions like when to prioritize tech debt over new feature development.
Why is Technical Product Manager's role needed?
Well few might argue that when the organizations have dedicated technology specialists - Engineering leads, Architects, Engineering managers etc., what more value will TPM role add?
The fact is there also be a need of people who can understand the technology and match it with the business requirements. It is just that because of the nature of organizations and industries sometime this role is more important and carved out separately. In the dynamic industries with ever evolving technology standards and break through innovations (for example: Internet space) generally you will see the need of this role. Product managers perform both inbound and outbound activities with few product managers focusing on one more than other depending upon their personal inclinations. The inbound product managers role will come close to match technical product manager.
How can one excel at Technical Product manager's role?
1. Keep up with emerging technologies and industry trends - Read tech blogs - Tech crunch, Next big what, think digit are few examples to follow. Network - attend tech gatherings, generally these are the places where new technology unveils.
2. Get involve in engineering discussions and know the tools which can aid you in your decision making processes. For example - Instead of depending on Analyst to pull and process data, try to do it yourself. This way you can avoid the number of iterations on what information you need and what is served to you.
3.Most importantly don't lose focus from your core responsibility which is to be users advocate. If you are involved on technical side of things it is easy to restrict your thinking to your current engineering capabilities and compromise on features which users are demanding. Remember that engineering is there to empower you to deliver value to your users. Make sure you stay ahead of the curve and not become a laggard adopter of technology
image credit - http://www.aha-soft.com
No comments:
Post a Comment