How To Be An Awesome Digital Product Manager

As technology has advanced over the past 20 years, the need to build websites and mobile products has increased. To keep up with increasing technical demands, the number of people in digital product management has grown exponentially. This new role requires digital product managers to be generalists who can lead cross-functional teams.

So, what do digital product managers do? And what does it take to succeed in the role? Read on to find out.

Digital product managers typically have a background in business, design thinking, marketing and/or software development. Apart from this, they must have the skills to communicate effectively to various stakeholders, think strategically and be able to produce valuable business results.

When digital PMs are deliberating on approaches and important considerations, they act as a voice for customers to ensure their expectations are met. In addition to this, a crucial task for digital PMs includes prioritizing their team’s backlog. A backlog is fundamental to product development since it includes the features that will drive the product from vision to release.

Digital product managers at Rocket Companies help create great products using competitive insights and strategies aligned with the company’s goals. Besides bringing a product through the complete lifecycle, digital PMs at Rocket Companies evaluate the success of a product by using performance indicators that influence business operations. Digital product managers are responsible for predicting clients' needs using research of product-market fit and customer feedback. PMs at Rock Companies can expect to form relationships, collaborate and engage in high-level communication with partners in technology, senior leadership, the Development team and business shareholders.

A popular first step to becoming a digital product manager is pursuing higher education. However, there are other ways besides traditional schooling to acquire the skills needed to succeed as a digital product manager. Aspiring digital PMs can hold internships, shadow experienced digital PMs at top companies and research the product lifecycle to prepare for the role. There are remote opportunities, such as 100% online product manager courses, that will provide industry recognized certificates upon completion. Here we’ll lay out critical competencies for digital PMs.

The digital product lifecycle is a business model that provides a layout of the individual stages a product will go through, from ideation to monitoring success. This cycle helps to ensure that the product will thrive in the marketplace. There are various types of product lifecycles, so the steps will vary. However, the common stages include plan, understand, strategize, create, launch and maintain.

It’s important for digital product managers to understand how to conduct market research to reveal what kind of products consumers are seeking and where their company stacks up against competitors. Research and metrics help digital PMs understand trends and threats, which will help give them the solid groundwork to develop products.

Knowing basic business proficiencies is essential to the role. When considering a product strategy, digital product managers must consider the budget, return on investment and any potential profit loss. Throughout the lifecycle of a product, they may be asked to present the projected profits and propose a budget to senior leadership and stakeholders.

Digital PMs will partner with many different teams throughout the organization during the lifecycle of a product. Therefore, it is critical for digital PMs to understand high-level concepts related to technical development that various teams may use (e.g., common design patterns/frameworks, A/B testing, common tools like Jira, Confluence, etc.).

Digital product managers present complex ideas; therefore, a road map is needed to guide team members on how ideas will be executed and when. Road mapping is a major contribution because it provides a visual for strategic planning. Keep in mind that road maps can and should evolve as the work progresses and new learnings/opportunities are uncovered.

Soft skills are equally important for digital product managers. Interpersonal skills are approaches used to communicate effectively. This group of skills entails active listening, assertiveness, dependability, teamwork, decision-making and problem-solving. Ultimately, digital product managers are held accountable for helping team members understand and buy into the overall vision. Therefore, digital product managers must have effective verbal and nonverbal communication.

The terms “project manager” and “product manager” may both be abbreviated as “PM,” but both professions require their own set of skills and responsibilities. Project management concentrates on the execution of a plan once tasks are defined. The key functions of a project manager include turning proposals into tasks, distributing project resources, arranging the project timeline, tracking task completion and communicating the progress of a project to stakeholders.

Differing from project managers, digital product managers power the development of a product by strategically thinking about the consumer’s needs; designing and marketing the product; aligning with business goals; and helping to create solutions to any presented problem. The essential purpose of a product manager is to conduct research, define the vision of the product and communicate that concept to stakeholders, prepare a product road map and maintain it throughout the product lifecycle.

In short, digital product managers oversee the lifecycle of a product from an initial idea through to working in production. This involves managing cross-functional teams, communicating with stakeholders, strategic thinking and developing a road map to define the vision of the product.

Apply today to open digital product manager positions at Rocket Companies.