My first gig as a Product Manager was in a Startup.
The Product I worked on did not exist. We started from two half-baked basic Computer Vision algorithms to objects.

To top it off, I had no real Product Manager experience. There was no one to tell me how to do things.
I led sales meetings, talked to developers, even tested the algorithms to determine their accuracy. But we could not go the JIRA way.

Two switches later, the demands of my role have shifted.

Contrary to most available literature in Product Management, the role spans across a very wide set of responsibilities, and no two roles demand the same.

The above post by Ben Erez very nicely contrasts the spectrum of responsibilities across the same role in different Products/Organizations.

There is no causal evidence to point to the perfect position in the spectrum that causes a Product to succeed. Different factors including, but are not limited to Product’s lifecycle, Technology used, Company Strategy, and Leadership Persona are critical in determining the exact coordination for the Product Team.

Your seniority and experience would also be the determining factors.

But to be able to even discuss further the exact set of responsibilities that work, it is important to determine the landscape of a Product Management organization.

The Product Septet

In any organization, a Product Management role is typically represented by a subset of the below responsibilities.

The set/subset of responsibilities that a Product Manager handles in her/his role is primarily driven by 3 things:

• Company Culture
• Technology used
• Product Lifecycle
• Role Seniority

A young Product has more chances of Product role encompassing the upper end of Spectrum where you are expected to be closer to Products.

An AI company, by the virtue of the Technology used, will rely on a combination of Product Managers and Engineers to solution a Product. The responsibilities towards the bottom spectrum might be minimal.

A Product leader, by virtue of seniority, would not engage as much with the engineering team for execution purposes.

The Septet Touchpoints

One of the Product Managers’ primary responsibilities is to build and maintain a resonance between different stakeholders.

The Leadership should have the exact same understanding of the problem, as does the Engineering team. The Sales team should be on the exact same page, line, and word as the Engineering and UX team are on a solution they are making.

But there is typically no one superhuman who goes around managing everything. A Product Manager might focus more on keeping his touchpoints Engineering team and Lead Product Manager on the same page. A Lead Product Manager might try to interact with Leadership and Sales.

But in broad terms, the Product Septet interacts with different stakeholders for different parts of their responsibilities.

Understanding the Product Septet helps you find the right role that is best suited for you.

Finding Your Fit

Any perfect fit mandates that there is an overlap between what is desired and what exists.

Products become successful upon finding the right product-market fit.
You succeed when you find the right job fit.

But how do you find the perfect fit?

So Why Do You Like Product Management?

The first step to finding the fit is to know yourself.

Knowing Yourself needs honest and deep enquiry.

Evaluating yourself across the following constructs hence becomes important:
- Inclination towards Tech vs Business vs User Experience.
- Inclination towards an element of the Product Septet, and more importantly abhorrence towards some
- Preference among Leadership vs Subject Matter Expertise
- Prior experience fit
- Established expertise areas among the Product Septet.

What does the Role have to Offer?

As discussed earlier a Product Manager role in different companies vary based on the parameters :

• Company Culture
• Technology used
• Product Lifecycle
• Role Seniority

The following questions will help you gauge the role that's you are interested in:

• What does one day in this role look like?
• Who are the people you are expected to have maximum interaction with within this role?
• What are the biggest challenges in this role?
• What is the decision-making hierarchy in the organization?
• What is the most recent win for the Product Team in the organization?

The answers to the above questions will help you find the fitment with your expectations.

Final Thoughts

A Product Management role spans across a wide spectrum and can be sliced diced in too many ways to list.
It is important that a role fits your expectation allowing you to grow in the direction you desire.

Understanding the landscape, where you are, and where you desire will help you grow in the right direction with the right speed.