Product management encompasses the processes used to develop, market, and sell a product. Like project planning in other fields, the effective use of these techniques is important to ensuring that products are delivered on time and within their budget. However, product management is being transformed by the ability to access unprecedented amounts of marketing and consumer data, as well as the emergence of the market for digital products like apps which have a much more complex product lifecycle.
Thus, expertise in modern product management methods is critically important. Whether you’re developing physical or software products, a familiarity with digital marketing analytics, user testing, and other customer research techniques provide invaluable insights on product/market fit to guide the development and marketing process. In industries like tech that prize innovation and speed, new frameworks like design thinking, Agile, and Scrum are popular ways to structure product development teams and processes to rapidly ideate, iterate, and bring new digital products to market.
Regardless of the product you’re developing and your preferred methodology, the work of a product manager is still fundamentally about managing teams and ensuring they work together effectively. So, while modern product management techniques are increasingly important for meeting the needs of today’s marketplace, interpersonal “soft skills” will always be essential tools for professionals in this field.