Transitioning to Product Management? This is what’s expected from you being a PM

Ankit Dhingra
2 min readJun 21, 2021

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Product Management is a glorious role as long as you’re out of the scene. But things may get real when you get into the job. Here’s what you can expect once you’re in!

  1. Expected to constantly work on improving products, for business and/or for customers; Not expect to not add any value to the product’s progress
  2. Expected to commit to projects that makes sense; Not expected to say yes without first evaluating the requirements
  3. Expected to take ownership of products you handle; Not expected to say ‘it wasn’t my fault’
  4. Expected to meet the deadlines and goals; Not expected to not have logical reasoning when it doesn’t meet
  5. Expected to build and value work relationships that last; Not expected to be selfish and not care about people & their contribution
  6. Expected to always over communicate; Not expected to let things take their own turn
  7. Expected to handle pressure and tough situations diligently; Not expected to give up without trying out
  8. Expected to know some, maybe not all answers; Not expected to not try and find those answers
  9. Expected to never solely take the glory; Not expected to under appreciate the efforts where its due
  10. Expected to take calculated risks and experiment; Not expected to jeopardise without evaluations and answers
  11. Expected to lead your development team without authority; Not expected to through them under the bus when things go hazy
  12. Expected to write, both crisply and detailed basis on the what’s needed; Not expected to laze and let people interpret whatever they want to
  13. Expected to get things done with strong influence; Not expected to have raise escalations every time you need something
  14. Expected to get hands dirty when required; Not expected to have an excuse the first chance you get
  15. Expected to use data as your weapon; Not expected to build solely on hunches
  16. Expected to have frameworks for decision making; Not expected to take shots at random
  17. Expected to be a true team player; Not expected to be someone who always go solo
  18. Expected to make mistakes; Not expected to rectify and not learn from them
  19. Expect to not know everything; Not expected to not learn anything additional
  20. Expected to challenge the status quo; Not expected to be happy with a plateau

I learned some of these the hard way and the others by observing other’s mistakes. For seasoned folks, if you think something else adds value, do add your comments or reach out to me here so we stay connected!

At last, do give a shoutout 👏 if you find it helpful or have felt similarly.

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Ankit Dhingra
Ankit Dhingra

Written by Ankit Dhingra

Like building products • PM at Booking • When I’m not working — I write, travel, wander and try to read more

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