When I worked at Mynurva, I started as an IT project manager managing Mynurva’s projects and products. After a year working with them, my scope of working was narrowed down into managing products and backlog grooming. I, then, asked my CTO to promote me to be a product manager because I think it’s the most suitable title for me. I also can implement my design thinking and service design knowledge from my master degree to the product development. Thinking back, as a PM in a startup, it’s understandable to do multiple things at once as long as it’s related to the product lifecycle.
Life back in a startup was very hectic and sometimes it felt super overworked. I decided to resign and move to a bigger corporation. I was then hired as a PM in PA Media Group, under their sport streaming subsidiary, StreamAMG. To my understanding, my role will focus more in the product strategy and work closely with marketing team to launch the enterprise product successfully.
According to Agile and Scrum best practices, product owners and product managers should be two different people. In an idealised world of Agile product development, product managers should focus on managing the strategy, while product owners take care of its tactical implementation. However, not every business can afford to assign two distinct individuals to each of these positions. And this happened to me when I was in PA Media Group.
Here is what I did to success in such situation.
Just accept it!
Whether you’re a product owner asked to be a product manager or a product manager saddled with product owner duties, there’s not much benefit to sulking in the situation. Unfortunately, my manager and the product director think that this is a good idea. They’re not the only people who think that way. There is a whole school of thought that is certain that one individual should always do both of these roles.
Try to think it in this way. You now have unrivalled exposure to the entire product development lifecycle. You’ll have an unmatched ability to influence things accordingly as well as remain deeply involved in the execution.
Make the most out of it
It might be challenging to do the work of two people. You do, however, have a rare opportunity to offer some important new knowledge and expertise. At this point, you will be fully informed on the roles of a product manager and owner.
You'll also get to see the other side of the coin and collaborate more closely with different teams and coworkers. This greatly expands your professional network and offers you the opportunity to win over additional internal allies and supporters, which will win you the respect and confidence of a larger audience.
To add, the product owner role will improve your knowledge and experience of Agile and Scrum by collaborating closely with engineering and the scrum master. This will benefit you at different stages of your career, regardless of whether you choose to pursue more senior roles in product management or as an Agile practitioner and product owner.
On the other hand, working as a product manager provides you with great visibility into many different aspects of the business. You’ll be a known greatly to much of the management team and many other senior employees of the company.
You'll be exposed to more real-world consumer behavior when you work in product management. You’ll understand the various user and buyer personas.. You will also be aware of the general market dynamics that affect your goods.
As a bonus, you'll also have a better understanding of which profession you eventually like and may choose to stick with as your career develops by performing both. You'll be an actual product specialist because of your approach. You have the authority to decide and suggest things after having this experience.
In conclusion, sometimes you have to accept the situation and go with the flow (but also strategically taking advantage of the situation for your career progression!). It might be overwhelming for you but the learning curve will be worth it in the future.
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