Hi gh56, I do not experience on this area yet. Nevertheless, I believe that it is difficult to pinpoint any role as the most important role for a product manager since they are equally important and they all relate to marketing. As a product manager, you own a particular product line and you serve as a critical link between the product and the market.

Hi All,

I would agree with the comments above that each role is important and it is difficult to say which would be most important. However, one that I believe is often overlooked, but still extremely important is the creating the story behind the product. It really provides the benefit and use for a product. There are products that may be very innovative, but if there is not a great story behind it, it may never be used to its full potential.

-Andrew Nashed

I agree with the comments above, it is difficult to point at which role would be the most critical for a project manager. If I were to take a guess, I assume that creating the story behind the product line. As Andrew mentioned earlier, their are great and innovative products out there but don't have a story. In addition, from my experience, the products that I work with have huge stories that revolve around them and their importance within development to manufacturing. It is important for the PM to utilize to story of the product to consumers are influenced to purchase it.

Chris

I agree with all the aforementioned comments that all these roles are crucial for a product manager. The one point that I have to elaborate on is the ability of the product manager to understand the factors that could affect sales. The product manager does not need to only understand those factors and prevent them, but he/she should work around the clock to ensure that the product is living up to the quality promised to the customer. Product managers should always work on continually improving their products and ensure that the product meets all regulatory requirements. Since there is no system that robust 100% of the time, the product manager have to make sure that all inadvertent defeciencies are eliminated and that there is enough product in stock to meet the demand.

gh56, I think you are confused between the roles of a project manager and a product manager. Project manager, works towards attaining a clear set of objectives. Whereas a product manager will oversee every aspect of the product throughout it whole life cycle. As the professor had stated, he/she acts a CEO of just that one particular product, he/she would thus oversee many project managers assigned with different tasks pertaining to that one product.

Hello,

While all are extremely important, I have found that the most important thing for a product manager to know would be to stay informed about the industry and market data. The reason why I say this is because it should also include knowing about competitor products as well as the aspects that affect product sales. In a way, it makes it hard to pinpoint one aspect from the ones that you have listed. Also, I think that something else that is important for product managers to know would be innovation and new discoveries (either from smaller start-up companies or academic research) that would be applicable for the product that they are responsible for managing.

This was new to me as I had no idea something such as a product manager existed. I think the most important would be for the to stay on top of the industry and market data as everything else seems standard. Staying on top of the market will help the company make changes as they see fit and most importantly stay competitive.

Gp232, I agree with your call out since sometimes people do use those roles interchangeably and they are actually different. Product Manager is keeping track of the product as it evolved from the development phase to launch. I do believe that the most critical is understanding factors that affect the product sales. This portion definitely provides the initial steps if identifying why the sales are not as forecasted and locate the possible issues. From this point, it may direct to the other roles of checking the market or evaluating the competitors’ products to see what the company can improve.

I believe the product manager has many roles which include, identifying profitable opportunities that meet market needs, launch products into the market, oversee products already in the market, and wind down products that no longer meet the market needs. A big part of being a product manager is understanding the market, which is done by communication with customers and possible future customers. They conduct usability tests, surveys, and keep records of compliments as well as complaints. Additionally, research is a main component of understanding the market and the competition on seeing how to improve your own product.

Hi luisa thank you so much for your input yes it seem like it wasnt the same but now i can do see the difference, because what i was thinking i guess it was different thank you for the clarification. This allow me to have a better understanding, and it seem that many people do commit this same mistake.

While all are important to be a successful product manager, there was another aspect that I came across during my research. One of the most important characteristics of a great PM is their relationship management skills. This is a very important quality since building authentic and trustworthy connections with both internal and external stakeholders is very rewarding. This was a separating quality that I found in my manager as well. He would inspire the team and help us reach our full potential. This quality becomes crucial when you have to negotiate with business on the table, or to resolve a conflict within the team.

The product manager is in charge of a specific product being released and follows through the product’s life cycle. The product manager is in charge of making sure the product is successfully built and launched into the market. As others have stated, all the responsibilities of the product manager is important. It is very important that the product manager stays informed on current products on the market and determining the best way to market the product. This will ensure that the product will be released and received positively by customers. If the product is released at a time when similar products are being released, then it can have negative effects in sales. This is why it is good that the product manager stays informed on this area of the product life cycle. The product manager also needs to show good management skills, as others have mentioned, as this determines the efficiency of the team. The product manager needs to make sure that the team is staying on track and is completing tasks as expected, so the product can be successfully launched.

From experience, a project manager should be well informed of the current industry and market data that their product is apart of. The medical device industry is always growing and the need for medical products will always be a necessity. Therefore, being in tune with what the market gaps are for the medical industry your product falls under is vital. This can help differentiate your product from a competitor. It also opens the door for improving your device because you will be aware of the issues and customer needs that are present in the industry. A project manager should know this information and relay the knowledge to their project team to keep everyone up to date. Which can result in the discussion on how to improve the project to fit the current market data.

While I do not have experience as a project manager I do believe that all roles are equally as important, but if I had to pick one in which I believe the project manager had to be the most fluent in it would be 'Stay informed about industry and market data'. As a project manager, you should be an expert on the competitor marker. You should know what devices are currently out there, how they work, what competitive edge your device has, how can you improve your current device in a future generation, and always be on top of 'what's next?' for your device based on your knowledge of the market.