Top 20 Product Manager Skills

What Product Manager skills should one hone to be great at the job? Working as a PM requires plenty as it is a position that’s highly dynamic. It’s no surprise that many find it challenging as it requires versatility and problem-solving abilities. 

Additionally, you need to handle numerous tasks and responsibilities simultaneously. A great PM thrives in complex environments, sees opportunities where others see roadblocks, and channels their inner strategist on demand.

We take a look at the most critical Product Manager skills that are necessary for a PM to succeed at any level of his or her career. 

What does a Product Manager do? 

A 2022 update by Glassdoor revealed that the Product Manager job ranked 10th in their top 50 Best Jobs list. The position currently has more than 17,000 job openings on the website for anyone interested in the field – an indication that the role is in demand.

But, what do you do as a Product Manager? The responsibilities vary from company to company. But, generally speaking, an effective Product Manager will focus on several duties, such as:

• Acknowledging and communicating customer needs.
• Managing the process of bringing a product from concept to completion while communicating with other team members to ensure they are moving forward at the same pace.
• Leading the product development process.
• Driving the product vision.
• Communicating with various teams within the organization to ensure that everyone is on the same page, including stakeholders.
• Ensuring team efficiency by prioritizing key features.
• Keeping a close eye on trends and doing competitor analysis.

It’s important to remember that these duties or responsibilities can vary from company to company. Some factors that will affect these duties are company size, the type of product the PM is working on, and the level of responsibility a PM has.

If you would learn more about this, read: The Responsibilities of a Product Manager.

Specific Skills a Great Product Manager Needs to Hone

There are specific skills that allow PMs to flourish and thrive in the midst of “chaos,” and that’s what we’re going to highlight in this list: 

1. Communication Skills

All across the product life cycle, a PM must communicate with different stakeholders. He or she must be prepared to speak through the lens of an engineer when talking to the development team and a designer with the UX team – all while putting him or herself in the shoes of  the consumer.

2. Business Skills

PMs must have strong business skills to understand customers’ needs and translate those into successful and profitable products. These skills can come from various fields: sales, marketing, finance, or any other field that requires communication and negotiation.

3. Research Skills

Becoming a competent Product Manager entails doing research to understand the latest trends, the changing needs of the target market, and how to better the products the company produces. 

4. Analytical Skills

Analytical skills are essential for Product Managers as they should be able to read a set of data, understand how to interpret them, and make recommendations. This skill can help PMs connect the dots between seemingly unrelated pieces of data to build a bigger picture of what’s going on.

5. Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills are an essential element for Product Management. They include communicating effectively, building relationships, and working well with others. PMs with strong interpersonal skills are more likely to build rapport with customers and influence their colleagues.

6. Marketing Skills

The role of Product Managers extends to overseeing and coordinating with marketing teams. Although you won’t need to be an expert in marketing, PMs aid marketers in clearly articulating the features and benefits of the product to the market. 

7. Delegation Skills

One of the critical soft skills required for a Product Manager is delegation. Delegation involves giving other people the freedom to do their jobs while keeping an eye on progress. Improving your delegation skills will not only make your job easier as a PM but also shows that you trust your team enough to have them do certain tasks.

8. Strategic Thinking

Building a successful product considers, not only, what features the product should have but also how the market will perceive those features. It’s through strategic thinking that a PM is able to consider this.

Sharpening this skill also enables PMs to be forward-looking, considering how to drive product growth, as well as problem-solvers, rolling with the punches as each obstacle arises.

9. Prioritization Skills

Prioritization helps PMs stay on track and keeps the team focused. Not only does prioritization allow Product Managers to stay organized, but it also ensures that what’s most important is being tackled first.

10. Leadership & Team Management

Leading a team can be one of the most rewarding and challenging tasks for any Product Manager. Proper leadership inspires teams to overcome obstacles, take risks, and reach new heights. 

As a PM, you must have a strong vision and ability to communicate, build and maintain healthy relationships with your team members, and have the willingness to take on extra responsibilities so that the team can thrive.

11. Time Management

Time management is important for Product Managers because it gives them the ability to effectively plan and manage multiple projects and deadlines. When a PM has strong time management skills, tasks are done in a timely manner. 

12. Problem-Solving

A Product Manager must recognize and solve problems as they arise while also anticipating potential issues and mitigating them before they become problems. PMs must also be able to effectively communicate these issues and their solutions to various stakeholders within the organization.

13. Conflict Management

Conflict happens when people or groups have different ideas about what should happen and disagree, leading to tension and stress. Product Managers must recognize when there’s conflict and know how to deal with it.  

In most cases, conflict can arise between teams, or between PMs and other teams in the organization because of communication issues. When this happens, it’s the PM’s job to mitigate the conflict to ensure that teams are still being effective.

14. Risk Management

Risk management is the identification, analysis, and avoidance of risk factors that can potentially damage your project. It will help you to prevent the worst from happening. Product Managers take the initiative to mitigate risks or shorten the time to market by removing any potential roadblocks during all stages of product development.

15. Flexibility

Flexibility may not be a usual skill that’s essential in some professions but in Product Management, it is a must. Not one day is the same when you work as a PM. If you’re not flexible or adaptable, you won’t be able to cope with the fast-paced environment. 

16. Empathy

Empathy is an essential skill that helps you comprehend another person’s feelings, thoughts, and motivations by understanding and sharing those feelings yourself. It allows PMs to relate to their users better, empathize with their needs, and build better products. Empathy is also important for building rapport with stakeholders and investors, who may have different opinions about the direction of the product and its potential impact.

17. A/B Testing Skills

A/B Testing is a hard skill crucial for Product Managers. This skill enables PMs to make data-driven decisions by allowing the data to help support their decisions in the stages of product development. The test results from A/B testing help PMs validate their judgments and refer to the results to make objective decisions.

18. Industry Knowledge

With a firm understanding of the industry, it’s possible to anticipate which products will be successful and which won’t. By knowing which trends are popular across different industries, it’s also possible to consider whether there is demand for a certain product or not. Industry knowledge is an essential hard skill for PMs.

19. Creativity

Creativity is important to every aspect of Product Management. It allows for the creation of new products or services that might not have been thought of otherwise. It also helps solve problems, discover opportunities, and identify how to best deliver a product or service.

20. Negotiation

Negotiation is an essential skill for Product Managers. It helps determine and reach an agreement between two or more parties. It helps find the best solution for stakeholders’ and customers’ needs.

Conclusion

Each of these skills is necessary for a Product Manager to be efficient and successful at shipping a product. These skills may be diverse but honing them will mean that you are putting in the work to improve yourself as a Product Manager. In no time, you will advance in your career as a PM which may be one of your top PM goals.

However, before you become a full-fledged PM, the main skills that you need to master first are PM interview skills which PM Exercises can help with. 

At PM Exercises, we’ve put together a Product Manager Interview Course along with 2000+ Product Manager Interview Questions with sample answers from our PM community. Along with the prep course and database of questions, we also have a Practice feature where you can find other product managers who are also prepping for their interviews to practice with.

FAQ

What is your strength as a Product Manager?

One of the main strengths of a Product Manager is their flexibility and adaptability. Each day, a PM has to roll with the punches. There’s always something expected that comes up such as meetings or issues that need immediate attention. If you want to become a Product Manager you need to be able to understand and adapt to a quick-changing environment. 

What qualifications do you need to be a Product Manager?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to what qualifications you need to be a Product Manager. Anyone is qualified as long as they have the right skill set and experience in the field. In terms of being a fresh graduate with zero product management knowledge and experience, it’s possible to still be qualified for a PM job but under certain circumstances. These circumstances include the company being a startup, you have the right analytical and technical skills, and you exhibit potential. 

What is the role of a Product Manager?

Product Management is the intersection of business and technology. A Product Manager is responsible for the success of a product throughout its life cycle. They are the ones who lead a cross-functional team and set the vision for a product.