Sandhya Rao

I am going to answer this with reference to few real-world examples that I have seen including my own. These are folks who begun their careers in a non-tech set ups and made it to the tech-world as Product people. I am also tweaking the question a bit to answer - 'What are the key attributes or habits that could help you break into a tech industry as a product manager?' Here, are 3 key attributes that can help - 1. Curiosity or a relentless pursuit to understand the 'why' behind everything is a key attribute that will shape your product mindset. When you consistently try to analyze the 'why' behind everything you experience, mostly the answer leads to user adoption, engagement, delight and retention. Businesses are motivated and thrive on these first principles and this is what mostly drives majority of their product decisions. Connecting the dots helps understand user-led design techniques, user interface theories and user experience logics. This is also true in any non-digital product set up. 2. Efficient context switching or the ability to handle multiple streams of conversations/information from varied teams is another crucial aspect that prepares you for a product role in a tech industry. As a product manager one of the critical job requirement is to be able to process information flowing through various channels and compartmentalize it for everyone. 3. People management or Stakeholder management is the last but a very important skill that helps keep the ship sailing. As a PM, the expectation is to connect and listen to every team and ensure all teams feel heard and inclusive. I know of 3 people in my network, who belonged to various other streams like Growth & Strategy, Content Operations and B2C Marketing who have successfully transitioned into a Product role within the tech industry with these 3 attributes. Curious to know alternate views!

"Tell me more about your experience in building a product and your contributions to it. And tell me as you look back now, what are the things that you would do differently or would not do differently and why". As a Leader, the virtue that I value the most is continuous learning and the ability to reflect or introspect on growth and opportunities to improvise. Most often this question leads the person to share variety of ways work getting more effective across all areas of People skills, Process leaks and core Product responsibilities.

In one of my early interviews with a potential candidate, I asked the person what he thought makes a good product manager. I believe his reply aptly summarizes a key attribute to become a successful Product Manager irrespective of the sector, type or geography, and I quote, "a good Product Manager knows all that he does not know". For a PM, hard skills include core product management skills like roadmapping, prioritization, forecasting and measurment, user story telling and effective idea presentation, as well as key technical skills like analytical proficiency. These hard skills can be learned and acquired overtime. Soft skills, on the other hand, are innate qualities tied to a person's personality and are inherent to the person making it more challenging to develop without concsious efforts and practice. I believe there are five core soft skills that all good product managers have in common - 1. They are emotionally intelligent - emotional intelligence is a much talked about quality and encompasses everything from interpersonal skills, empathy, self-awareness, humility and ability to remain centered even in the most pressured situations. Emotionally intelligent Product Managers realize that most of their role is essentially getting things done from people who do not report to them. They are self-aware of all the things that they do not know and the need to constantly seek information or lean on other teams to be an efficient PM. These PMs have the ability to stay calm in the most chaotic times and manage to bring clarity by asking the right questions to the right set of stakeholders. These PMs have value diverse opinions which may be different to their own. Emotionally intelligent PMs are also great collaborators and excel at navigating stakeholder dynamics. 2. They are great observers/ listeners - Successful product managers also possess strong listening skills. And by listneing skills what I mean is they have an innate ability to grasp implicit information. They are great observationalist by virtue of their listening/comprehending skills. Most often than not, they seek experiences, feedback or cues which are opposite to their own. 3. They are adept at rationalizing - Good product managers possess enviable rationalizing skills. They have the ability to analyze information, ask the right questions, evaluate options, and make logical and timely decisions based on data and insights. 4. They are futuristic or possess a forward-thinking mindset - In my opinion, there is no PM without the power of imagination. Likewise, being able to think futuristic and imagine the outcomes of product deicions made today is essential for product managers. Constantly envisioning how the product can evolve, how and why the market is shaping, what potentially will the client need next, ideating on hypotheses to visualize the future of the product are all skills that bake into a good PM mix. 5. They know 'how' to say a 'No' - Lastly, a key skill for product managers is the ability to say No. They understand the importance of focus and prioritization, and are not afraid to decline requests or initiatives that do not align with the product vision or strategic objectives.

My approach is simple - Connect. When pursuing new opportunities, I meticulously gauge insights into a company’s culture - its people, processes and purpose. I wait till I feel connected with the company at each of these 3 levels. Here’s how - 1. Purpose: I dig deeper into the company’s narrative across various channels, at both the formal and informal levels, and I try to find evidences of the company’s commitment to its values and mission. A company’s authenticity can be screened through the product quality, user experiences, financials and market positioning. It is important to me that I can resonate with the company’s purpose. But this also largely depends on what stage of career you are in at that moment. Personally for me, my excitement aligns with firms solving tangible problems and are not solely profit-driven like using AI to fight the fake news epidemic or using technology to evaluate impact in the social sector. 2. Processes: Exploring a company's online presence unveils the depth and maturity of its processes. For example G2 reviews on an existing SaaS product can help understand the company’s product roadmap or customer support process. Over the years I have discovered my bias towards action and redundant processes is a red-flag, especially their impact on my role and execution. 3. People: This has the highest weightage in my decision-making framework. I assess the company's personnel through platforms like LinkedIn and Glassdoor and this can help you understand the pulse of the organization. While purpose and processes hold significance, the people facor is a non-negotiable for me, it becomes a deal-breaker. I invest time in comprehending a connection with the people that I will be closely working with. It is crucial for me to align with the people's mindset and values. I also use the opportunities during interview rounds to uncover insights into their purpose, process and people. I also ask if I could talk to one or more people with who I will be collaborating in future. Such 1x1 interactions are also great space to evaluate if you feel the connect. I ask questions like, ‘can you help me describe a typical day for you at work’, ‘if I had to ask 10 people in this department to mention 3 things that they like and do not like about the company, what would those be’, ‘can you mention about a day when you felt very disappointed with your work at this company’, etc.

The way quality overrides quantity in feedback collation, similarly, the technique employed takes precedence over the procedural aspects in gathering insights on CSAT. I try to ensure that we apply variety of approaches to gain wider understanding of product usage, feature adoption, customer sentiments and loyalty when working on the product roadmap. Each approach leads to learnings that can be incorporated in that respective function of product roadmap, while following a systematic processes to gather the learnings. Some of the approaches that work are - 1. CSAT surveys and questionnaires that are carefully crafted to seek both qualitative and quantitative insights into core feature usage with a NPS score tracked overtime 2. Focus groups within the organization that act as an internal set of Customer advocates or Advisory councils that act as the primary advocate of customer's experiences and reactions. Such focus groups relatively have a greater connect with the customers as compared to the rest of the organization and hence can become the primary driver for early user feedback 3. Customer interviews that can be conducted during any phase of product lifecycle, with the caveat of it being diverse and well-balanced to avoid any structural biases 4. A/B testing or UATs basis the scope of customer feedback required. Such direct usability tests work great to gather real-time and direct feedback from the intended target audience 5. Usage data and analytics can work as the perfect lever to understand indirect customer feedback by analyzing their usage behavior and patterns 6. Product demos and such other implementation programs (if applicable) acts as a great platform to guage customer interests and excitement on new features or product roll-outs 7. Monitoring of customer sentiments across range of their input platforms like reddit, G2, social media, LinkedIn, etc. can be another way of gathering insights There could be more specific approaches that works basis the need, but generally a combination of the above mentioned ensures that the Roadmap stays healthy.