The role of group product manager (GPM) is new in product management. Businesses are becoming more aware of the value of cross-functional cooperation. That’s why it’s gaining a reputation.
The GPM is in charge of uniting the product team under a unified product vision. They ensure they are all working toward the same goal.
Knowing the technical, business, and product functions that must work collaboratively to deliver a product to market is a must for this role.
Let’s dissect this critical role to see what a group product manager is and how they vary.
Who Is a Product Manager
In popular culture, the image of a tech office with a dark room full of sleep-deprived engineers frantically producing code is satirical.
In truth, more steps are involved in creating a software product. A tech company’s commercial operations are crucial. So, who contributes to making technological innovations into commercially viable products? Product managers.
They are the guardians of the technical innovation that underpins a company’s goods.
Even the most devoted workers occasionally think about changing their field of employment. This is because becoming a group product manager is challenging. Whether you’re searching for a position with more responsibility or just a new beginning.
Who Is a Group Product Manager
Group product manager (GPM) has become increasingly popular in recent years.
A team leader overseeing several products’ development is known as a group product manager. Product development and team management abilities must exist for the group product manager position.
Effective GPMs demonstrate the capacity to mentor. They inspire their team members while actively involved in the job.
The group product manager is in charge of developing and maintaining roadmaps. They establish the vision and strategy for the product (s).
They collaborate with other teams inside the business to guarantee that the products follow the broader business plan.
Difference Between a Group Product Manager and a Product Manager
A product manager (PM) creates a product’s long-term goal and plan. They then explain this plan to all concerned parties and stakeholders.
PMs oversee product management-related projects or activities, although they usually do not manage people.
Instead, a GPM is on track for organizational leadership. They balance individual product development contributions with people management and development.
From product conception through launch, GPMs are in charge of organizing and supervising a product team.
The typical path for a GPM is to begin as a product manager. They later advance through the PM levels while harboring a solid drive to manage employees.
GPMs thus frequently advance to the positions of
1) Head of Product
2) Director of Product Management
3) VP of Product
How to Become a Group Product Manager
Group product managers have a strong performance history as product managers, which speaks for itself. The position promotes a Senior Product Manager eager to lead a product team.
Primarily group product managers have a lot of prior product management expertise. The first step to becoming a GPM is collecting as much professional product management expertise as possible.
In supervising or managing PM teams, even in an informal capacity, exercise as much leadership as possible.
GPM is a management role. You must have a measurable accomplishment demonstrating your leadership abilities.
Don’t be scared to tell your bosses that you desire a leadership position in the long term. They cannot read the thoughts of their staff, after all.
Don’t be afraid to seek out guidance from others, either. Many individuals will be happy to share with you what they did in their professions to achieve where they are.
Group Product Manager Skills
1. Product Knowledge
A group product manager has to have in-depth knowledge of the product they are in charge of. This involves familiarity with the product’s attributes, functionality, materials, manufacturing process, and features.
Additionally, a product manager has to be familiar with the product’s market and intended audience. Making judgments regarding the product requires having this information.
2. Leadership Skills
Since they frequently serve as the team’s and the product’s spokesperson, leadership abilities might be crucial for a product manager to possess.
A group product manager may inspire their team to collaborate to develop a successful product using their leadership abilities.
They may motivate their team to produce novel things clients want using their leadership abilities.
3. Analytical Skills
The capacity to evaluate data and derive conclusions from it is known as analytical skill. To develop the greatest choices for your product, you must be able to assess data and knowledge as a product manager.
For instance, if you see a fall in sales, you must be able to evaluate the data to identify the root issue and decide what to do about it.
4. Communication Skills
You engage with many different individuals in your role as a product manager, including other product managers, engineers, salespeople, marketing teams, and customers.
Your effectiveness in this profession depends on your ability to communicate successfully. You must be able to explain difficult concepts in a way everybody can grasp.
To comprehend the demands and preferences of your consumers, you must also be able to interact with them.
5. Business Acumen
The visions and strategies of a firm link to its level of financial performance. A product manager must comprehend how their product affects the business’s bottom line.
This necessitates having a solid grasp of the business’s financials and how the product may impact them. For instance, a product manager would need to understand the potential impact of a new product on sales, profitability, and client acquisition expenses.
Responsibilities of a Group Product Manager
The skills mentioned above exist to carry out the following responsibilities. These are some real-life examples picked from GPM’s resumes:
- Organize and direct a group of product and product marketing managers in charge of corporate SAAS solutions.
- With the introduction of Java games, lead a cross-functional team to establish the application/game download ecosystem and create a sizeable new income source.
- Create all-encompassing customer relationship management (CRM) strategy, including segment-specific strategic offers.
- Upgrade and grow your online presence to make the most of technology to save money and simplify procedures.
- Use SQL to assist data-driven research and decision activities in helping prioritize projects, evaluate the usefulness of features, and resolve problems.
- To optimize market opportunity, track product sales forecasts through channel sales, and start accessory development for OEM clients.
- Target marketing at core consumers to maximize return on investment from advertising spending and swiftly increase core customers.
Conclusion
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, positions for group product managers are predicted to expand by 8% between 2018 and 2028, which acts as “quicker than normal.”
Therefore, if the question “should I become a group product manager?” has struck your attention, you may want to consider the development rate. Additionally, statistics predict that 21,800 new group product manager positions will open by 2028.
Even the most devoted workers occasionally think about changing their field of employment since becoming a group product manager is challenging.
