7 Management Lessons You Learn as a Product Manager

7 Management Lessons You Learn as a Product Manager7 Management Lessons You Learn as a Product ManagerGreat product managers must function as part entrepreneur, part general manager, part process expert, and part diplomat in their very challenging roles. They bridge the various functions to bring their products to life and they make the key feature, function and pricing decisions throughout the lifecycle of their offerings. At the end of the day, they are accountable for the results of their products, even though they dont directly manage the development, absatzwirtschaft or selling of their offerings. This is one tough and important job. Here are great management lessons you can develop in this role. You Learn to See Customers as Unique People Everyone in an organization talks about customers often referencing them generically. In reality, not all customers are the same. Product Managers work to develop a specific profile for each distinct customer group they serve or desire to attract. As long as the distinguishing characteristics of each persona are meaningful, the product manager can guide the various functions to develop unique offerings and tailor marketing approaches. You Develop as a Strategist Part of the excitement of this role is your immersion in helping define and execute your firms strategy. From assessing and selecting markets to enter to identifying potentially profitable customers to serve, product managers are often involved in many of the core strategy decisions of a firm. After selecting markets and customers, the detailed work of identifying unique offerings and guiding critical pricing and positioning decisions are part of the product managers responsibilities. You Learn to Lead Across Functions Similar to the role of project manager, the product manager has the challenging task of leading others and being accountablefor results without the luxury of direct authority. Any role where you learn to drive results through others wi thout formal authority is a great teaching role. You Develop Diplomatic and Political Skills as a Matter of Survival Spend a day shadowing a product manager and youre likely to participate in customer calls, field inquiries from salespeople, run a meeting with engineering, meet with customer sttze to hear about quality issues, and participate in a webinar with your marketing friends. At every encounter, youre faced with issues and people demanding decisions or commitments. Your diplomatic skills allow you to navigate these challenging encounters in the best interests of your firm and your customers. You Learn to See the Entire Experience Customers evaluate your offerings for the entire experience, not just the physical product or actual service. If the product is great, but customers struggle to understand the documentation and cannot reach support for answers, this will reflect poorly on your product and sales results and reputation will suffer. Product managers are account able for the whole offering, including the physical product or actual service and all of the customer touch-points surrounding the offering. You Cultivate Great Communication Skills From your first day on the job, youre engaged with customers and colleagues in other departments, and after some time on the job, youll find yourself serving as a frequent contributor at executive meetings. You learn quickly to adapt to different audiences and you learn that your ability to communicate effectively is your most critical asset. You Learn to Make Profitable Tradeoffs In your role, you are choosing where to invest your firms money in developing new and enhancing existing products. Every decision has a cost and an implication and product managers are constantly called upon to make priority tradeoffs. Engineering might have limited resources to work on your offering and instead of your top five feature requests, they might only be able to deliver three in the time-frame you specified. Its up to you as the product manager to select the features to be left behind.If you want more time to train your sales team on your latest offering, youll have to negotiate for time on the schedule with the sales executive.Need to drop your price due to a competitors action? Youll be spending time convincing your finance department why they should make less money on every product they ship. These tough decisions are daily issues for product managers, who become masters of managing tradeoffs.

Alternative Jobs For Teachers

Alternative Jobs For TeachersAlternative Jobs For TeachersEveryones life has been touched by a teacher. Some of us have positive memories of teachers who helped us through difficult subjects or difficult times. Others have negative memories of teachers who made life more difficult. These positive and negative interactions often inspire individuals to follow in the footsteps of their teachers and become teachers themselves, dedicated to inspiring the next generation while also getting lots of apples from their students. The desire to educate and support children is a noble one, but its important to note that teaching isnt for everyone. Before you invest in a teacher prep program or start substitute teaching, its worth checking your perception of this traditional field against the reality of todays modern classroom. For this installment of the dream job series, I have a little more insight than usual, as I started my career as a high school English teacher and taught for two-and-a-half years. Since then I have transitioned out of the classroom, and I run a website that helps other teachers do the same. Ive spoken with hundreds of teachers some who love it and some who dont and I know how important it is to truly weigh the pros and cons of the calling.Teacher, the Job Description Of Your DreamsFor many people the dream of teaching starts with the classroom your classic chalkboard (or modern whiteboard) will be pinned with fun cartoons, calendars and notes about your subject area, and the desks will be laid out in creative pods (or more lecture-friendly rows). Whatever you didnt like about your classroom experience youll fix here youll put time into making creative and thoughtful lessons that give students an opportunity to engage with your subject area and enrich their lives. Youll use your insight into your subject area to teach the topics you want in the way you want to teach them, and your students will benefit from it. As for classroom management, youll have a tough time managing the class clowns and students who are struggling with problems at home at first, but overall your interactions with the students will be educational, thoughtful and sometimes downright fun. When a real problem comes up, you can work with a school counselor, administrator or the childs parent to come to a resolution that respects the students needs. Teacher, the Job Description In Real LifeThe real life job description of teaching still has its perks, such as positive interactions with students and engaging with subject matter in creative ways. However, it also comes with some unique stressors and challenges. First, many teachers struggle with the constant need for classroom management and asserting discipline over classes of 25-30 students. This can lead to dramatic confrontations and negative experiences for the teacher that are repeated every year as a new group of students matriculates. Add to this the challenges of managing attendance, grades, student elec tronics such as smartphones and other behavioral issues. Second, many teachers find that the schools administration, counselors and the parents of students are just as busy and overwhelmed as they are. While every person often has the best intentions, teachers are frequently left to manage the challenges on their own. In some extreme cases the administration and parents can be the cause of the challenge, such as the time a parent called me on my cell phone several times to yell at me for giving the childs cell phone to the principal when the child would not put the phone away after several requests.As for the curriculum you teach, you may have some freedoms about how you present the material, but for many subjects and grade levels the curriculum is determined by the school and by government legislation with an emphasis on standardized testing requirements. Over time, these requirements can create an environment in which teachers are pressured to teach to the test and it is difficult to maintain a creative approach to educating students. The dream job description of teaching sounds like it would be a good fit for anyone who is friendly, energetic and loves their subject area. However, thats often not the case. Far from being a universal calling, teaching requires a unique skill set that includes patience, confidence and a passion for helping children. You also must have excellent work-life boundaries so that you dont take your work home with you each day. If you enter the classroom without these skills you might be one of the many teachers who experience increased levels of stress.What To Do Instead of Being a TeacherWhether youre already in the classroom and seeking an alternative or youre just learning about your interest in the field, there are many things you can do with a talent for teaching that dont involve the unique demands of a public school system. Here are five alternatives to being a classroom teacher that call on the communication, planning and tr aining skills that teachers haveInstructional DesignerCorporate TrainerCurriculum DesignerTraining SpecialistSubject Area ConsultantIf youre called to teach, youre in for an exciting career. But before you jump into the classroom, consider what the best environment for you would be based on your skills and talents.

Ask These 6 Questions to Make Rational Decisions

Ask These 6 Questions to Make Rational Decisions Ask These 6 Questions to Make Rational Decisions Article by Cecilia MeisPeople accidentally swallow eight spiders every year in their sleep. Although debunked numerous times, this myth remains the fruchtwein widely circulated fact of the 21st century, according to the National Institute of Arachnological Research.Did you believe me? Because I just lied to you.Proving such a statement would be tedious. Also, a quick internet search would reveal that the National Institute of Arachnological Research doesnt exist.Why do myths persist despite published research proving their opposites? Because somewzu siche in your memory, youve stored something that sounds familiar. It might have been a sibling trying to scare you. You might have a mild spider phobia. You might have read it in a 1993 article by Lisa Holst, who, ironically, was trying to demonstrate why people readily accept facts shared through email chains. The myth triggers an emotion al rather than a skeptical response.It can be dangerous to rely on your gut, or whatpsychologist Daniel Kahneman calls System 1 thinking automatic judgments that stem from associations stored in the memory. This type of thinking develops over time as people attempt to make sense of seemingly random events that occur around them. The mora we make sense of our environments, the more control or perceived control we have over our lives.But our guts can lead us astray. Our biases can drive us to focus on the wrong information or seek information that matches rather than challenges what we already believe.To build your rational-thinking skills, ask yourself these questions1. What Would I Say to a Friend?Create space between your thoughts and feelings. You can do that by pretending to give advice to a friend, which allows your brain to switch from rumination to problem-solving. The more highly charged the situation, the more you need to separate yourself from your momentary feelings. Recen t studies have found that journalingin the third person allows you to evaluate yourself and your situations more clearly and thoughtfully.2. What Are Three Possible Outcomes?Uncertainty is terrifying. Its easier and less stressful to imagine a single outcome, so we do. Instead, researchers say you should imagine multiple outcomes to improve your accuracy and logical thinking.If youre imagining the possible success of your business in five years, come up with three figures thatpredictyour level of success high, medium, and low. Your high and low numbers should be improbable but not unrealistic. This approach helps you avoid being blindsided by extremes on either endby planing for their possibility.3. What Is the Counterargument to This Decision or Belief?We like to be right. We like for others to agree with our decisions or beliefs. However, when we think with our System 1 minds, were often blind to other options or perspectives. Use the following tips to frame counterarguments that will help you assess your position more rationally- Be generous in your research and genuinely thoughtful when building a counterargument.- Shift your motive from winning to gaining value. Julia Galef, cofounder of the Center for Applied Rationality, says this allows her to imagine a scenario where she never loses, because one of her options will likely help her succeed.- List the points of agreement between both arguments.- Compare both arguments side by side, as if someone else wrote them.Shifting your mindset to someone elses view isnt easy. Galef advises using mindfulness techniques to identify when your emotions are running high particularly when someone is challenging your beliefs. Focus on seeking the truth rather than on winning.4. Why Am I Attached to This Decision or Belief?People often cling to irrational beliefs because theyre attached to their identities. Maybe your spouse says an alternate route is faster than the one youve always taken. You overreact, maybe because y ou think your spouse is insulting your intelligence. Researchers say your sense of self-worth is a significant factor in rational thinking.One study found that when people feel positively about themselves, theyre more likely to accept uncomfortable facts. Before looking at information that challenges your beliefs, write down your top three qualities and recall examples of each. Explain your reaction so your spouse knows how to better present alternatives in the future.5. Is This Too Good to Be True?Your mom was right Information that sounds too good to be true often is. Generic or flowery languagecan cover factual inconsistencies.For example,Colgate found trouble after claiming more than 80 percent of dentists recommendedits brand. What the company failed to mention was that those dentists recommended Colgate along with other brands.Pay special attention to the wordsa claim uses recommended versus preferred, for example. Also watch for averages without context and whethera claim se ems completely one-sided. If it feels too good (or bad), it probably is, so dig a little deeper.6. Is This Harmful?Seeking truth is important, but so is knowing when you shouldnt waste your timechallenging meaningless falsehoods.For example, during a casual conversation at a networking event, someone might tell you they hold the record for the most hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes in the state of Georgia. Before you whip out your best according to voice, ask yourself if this lie is harmful. The claim, though potentially false, doesnt affect anyone except Georgias actual hot-dog-eating champion, but only if that winner is relying on sponsorship funding from people at the same networking event.If youre planning to work with this person, maybe you should determine whether theyre a compulsive liar. Otherwise, smile, nod and politely exit the conversation.Rational thinking requires removing emotional responses, checking biases, and considering other options before trying to convince your gra ndmother that shes eaten 680 spiders in her life.By the way, according to Bill Shear, former president of the American Arachnological Society, Spiders regard us much like theyd regard a big rock. It looks like youre safe.Look it up if you dont believe me.Versions of this article originally appeared on SUCCESS.comand in the October 2017 issue of SUCCESS Magazine.Cecilia Meis is the integrated content editor for SUCCESS magazine and SUCCESS.com. She recently earned a bachelors degree from the Missouri School of Journalism. A Kansas City native, Cecilia enjoys sand volleyball, new stationery, and a heaping plate of burnt ends.