We can argue all day about what it takes to be a superb Product Manager. But what are the minimum competencies — the table stakes — an individual needs to be merely effective in a product management role?
Jeff Lash of SiriusDecisions believes there are five. A Product Manager should be able to:
1) Identify and know how to approach a market opportunity
2) Understand their product’s core concept and components
3) Position their product, e.g., does it compete on value and/or quality, what is the customer segment
4) Structure and manage the development/delivery system for the product*
5) See how a product can be scaled once it has achieved product-market fit
*Whether Product Managers are using agile, waterfall or some other development framework, Jeff maintains that too much emphasis is put on this daily tactical work.