Here’s a fact you may not have known: Many of today’s top executives and CEOs in tech companies — from Microsoft’s Satya Nadella to Marissa Mayer at Yahoo — were product managers early in their careers.
这里有一个你可能不知道的事实：从微软的萨蒂亚-纳德拉（Satya Nadella）到雅虎的玛丽莎-梅耶尔（Marissa Mayer），当今许多科技公司的高层管理者和首席执行官在职业生涯早期都曾是产品经理。
It makes sense. Most product managers are tasked with leading cross-functional teams, resulting in high visibility and the opportunity to gain company-wide influence. For those who are successful, it can be a valuable step up the corporate ladder. But what does a product manager actually do and is it the right role for you?
这是有道理的。大多数产品经理的任务是领导跨职能团队，因此具有很高的知名度，并有机会获得全公司范围内的影响力。对于那些成功人士来说，这可能是在企业阶梯上迈出的宝贵一步。但是，产品经理究竟是做什么的，这个职位适合你吗？
What is product management?
什么是产品管理？
At its core, product management is about solving problems that lie at the intersection of business, technology, and user experience. A product manager (PM) is a person who oversees the development and lifecycle of a product, acting as the link between different teams to make sure the product delivers what customers want while also meeting the goals of the business. They’re responsible for creating a product roadmap, or an action plan that outlines the vision, direction, and expected progress of a product over time. While the actual responsibilities of the role varies based on product type, in general, PMs manage the various tasks required to bring a product across the finish line.
产品管理的核心是解决处于业务、技术和用户体验交叉点上的问题。产品经理（PM）负责监督产品的开发和生命周期，充当不同团队之间的纽带，确保产品在满足业务目标的同时满足客户需求。他们负责创建产品路线图，或行动计划，概述产品的愿景、方向和预期进展。虽然该角色的实际职责因产品类型而异，但总的来说，项目经理负责管理将产品推向终点所需的各种任务。
What skills do product managers need?
产品经理需要哪些技能？
With the right training, anyone can learn to master this role. From our combined experiences in product management, here are six core skills PMs need to be successful:
通过正确的培训，任何人都可以掌握这一角色。根据我们在产品管理方面的综合经验，以下是项目经理成功所需的六项核心技能：
Communication 交流
As someone just starting out in product management, you need to be a strong and clear communicator. Your early jobs will likely require you to assist more senior PMs, host weekly meetings to align cross-functional teams, manage project expectations, and ensure collaborators are informed of key decisions and trade-offs. You may also be tasked with sending out regular updates to ensure everyone involved is on the same page and is clear on the team’s priorities.
作为产品管理领域的新手，你需要具备强大而清晰的沟通能力。早期的工作可能需要你协助更资深的项目经理，主持每周会议以协调跨职能团队，管理项目预期，并确保合作者了解关键决策和权衡。您还可能负责定期发送最新信息，以确保每个人都保持一致，并清楚团队的优先事项。
When a PM has poor communication skills, projects can quickly fall apart. Misalignment among the different teams — such as the marketing team not being aware of the most recent changes in product engineering — can lead to duplicated work or missed deadlines. On the other hand, good communication does more than prevent project delays. It removes friction between departments and creates a more trusting work environment.
如果项目经理的沟通技巧不佳，项目很快就会分崩离析。不同团队之间的不协调--比如营销团队不了解产品工程方面的最新变化--会导致工作重复或错过最后期限。另一方面，良好的沟通不仅能防止项目延误。它可以消除部门之间的摩擦，创造一个更加信任的工作环境。
Conflict resolution 解决冲突
This is another critical skill. As the project moves along, the various teams working together may have conflicting opinions about what will or won’t work, or which tasks to prioritize. As a PM, you’ll find yourself resolving or mediating disagreements between team members or different functions, and this requires diplomacy and tact.
这是另一项关键技能。随着项目的推进，合作的各个团队可能会对哪些工作可行、哪些工作不可行、哪些任务应优先处理等问题产生相互冲突的意见。作为项目经理，你会发现自己需要解决或调解团队成员或不同职能部门之间的分歧，这就需要外交技巧和机智。
Execution skills 执行技能
Execution is the process of making things happen. In product management, that means turning strategy into action and making sure each task gets completed before the deadline. Good execution skills include the ability to coordinate team members, manage timelines, and solve problems as they come up, even with imperfect information. It also means possessing a good level of data literacy and critical thinking to identify the root causes of issues during the product development and launch process. Execution skills are important here because each task is a moving part of the whole. Any lapses in completing a task, whether it’s a delay, bad time or cost estimation, or poor coordination, can have a ripple effect across your team.
执行是让事情发生的过程。在产品管理中，这意味着将战略转化为行动，并确保每项任务都能在截止日期前完成。良好的执行技能包括协调团队成员、管理时间表以及在信息不完善的情况下解决问题的能力。这还意味着要具备良好的数据素养和批判性思维，以便在产品开发和发布过程中找出问题的根源。执行技能在这里非常重要，因为每项任务都是整体中不断变化的一部分。在完成任务过程中出现的任何纰漏，无论是延误、时间或成本估算不当，还是协调不力，都会对整个团队产生连锁反应。
Collaboration and influence
合作与影响
Product development teams are made up of engineers, designers, marketing, legal, and others — depending on the product itself. Each team has their own expertise and priorities. As a PM, you’re responsible for bringing everyone together and ensuring you can all move seamlessly toward the end goal. To do this, you must have the ability to persuade and build influence with others. They have to trust and believe in your vision for the product, and be willing to follow your lead — even if you aren’t their direct manager.
产品开发团队由工程师、设计师、市场营销人员、法律人员和其他人员组成--这取决于产品本身。每个团队都有自己的专长和工作重点。作为项目经理，您的职责是将所有人团结在一起，确保大家都能朝着最终目标无缝前进。要做到这一点，您必须具备说服他人和建立影响力的能力。他们必须信任并相信你对产品的愿景，并愿意听从你的领导--即使你不是他们的直接经理。
Product sense 产品感觉
As a PM, you have to understand user needs, spot market opportunities, and develop products that solve real problems. A strong product sense allows PMs to identify current user pain points and intuit what future ones may come up. Marty Cagan, a product expert, captures the meaning of product sense well in his book: “The most important skill for a product manager is to be able to distinguish between what users say they want and what they actually need.”
作为一名项目经理，你必须了解用户需求，发现市场机遇，并开发出能解决实际问题的产品。强烈的产品意识能让项目管理人员识别当前的用户痛点，并直觉未来可能出现的痛点。产品专家马蒂-卡根（Marty Cagan）在他的著作中很好地诠释了产品意识的含义："产品经理最重要的技能是能够区分用户说他们想要什么和他们实际需要什么"。
Strategic thinking 战略思维
Finally, you must be able to anticipate market trends relevant to your product or industry, balance the pursuit of quick wins with the longer-term organizational goals, and understand how the performance of your product is contributing to the business. As you advance in the PM role and potentially begin to oversee others, thinking strategically, and communicating the “big picture” to your team will become more important.
最后，您必须能够预测与您的产品或行业相关的市场趋势，在追求速赢与更长远的组织目标之间取得平衡，并了解您的产品性能对业务的贡献。当您晋升为项目经理并有可能开始监督他人时，战略思维和向团队传达 "大局观 "将变得更加重要。
How can you start out in this career?
如何开始这一职业？
There are many ways to pursue this career path, but in our experience, the most promising path involves joining an associate product manager (APM) development program — like those offered at Google, Atlassian, and Meta. These programs typically target new graduates and have standardized application processes, but early career professionals or people hoping to transition career paths can apply for them as well.
从事这一职业的途径有很多，但根据我们的经验，最有前途的途径是加入协理产品经理 (APM) 开发项目，例如Google,Atlassian 和Meta 提供的项目。 这些计划通常针对应届毕业生，并有标准化的申请流程，但早期职业专业人员或希望转换职业道路的人员也可以申请这些计划。
In an APM program, you work as a full-time employee but rotate between different teams to develop your skillsets. For instance, you might spend a few months getting hands-on experience shadowing a senior PM working on a specific product before rotating to a different product team where you’re entrusted with smaller tasks to work on independently. Your tasks might include organizing regular planning meetings or undertaking user research and market research. You might also help define the product vision, create marketing plans, or get involved with the UX finalization.
在 APM 计划中，你将作为全职员工工作，但会在不同团队之间轮换，以发展自己的技能。例如，在轮换到不同的产品团队之前，你可能需要花几个月的时间跟随高级项目经理学习特定产品的实践经验，然后再被委派独立完成较小的任务。你的任务可能包括组织定期计划会议或开展用户研究和市场调研。您还可能帮助确定产品愿景、制定营销计划或参与用户体验的最终确定。
After about a year in these programs, many APMs are given more decision-making responsibilities beyond pure execution and shadowing their seniors. You might be asked to analyze customer feedback, for example, and then recommend whether the team should abandon, modify, or improve a product feature.
在这些项目中工作一年左右后，许多 APM 会被赋予更多的决策职责，而不仅仅是纯粹的执行和跟随前辈。例如，你可能会被要求分析客户反馈，然后建议团队是否应该放弃、修改或改进某个产品功能。
By the end of the program, the goal is to land a full-time role at the organization, one in which you can make a bigger impact and perform more strategic work. You will likely be evaluated on a few dimensions: your impact (your ability to deliver product features or updates that benefit the business or end-users), your ability to work effectively with others, how well you can prioritize tasks with imperfect information, and how well you can determine the root causes of issues.
在项目结束时，我们的目标是在企业中获得一个全职职位，在这个职位上，你可以发挥更大的影响力，从事更具战略性的工作。我们可能会从以下几个方面对你进行评估：你的影响力（你提供有利于业务或最终用户的产品功能或更新的能力）、你与他人有效合作的能力、你在信息不完善的情况下确定任务优先级的能力，以及你确定问题根本原因的能力。
Without an APM program, the product management job can be more challenging to enter or transition into. When one of us, Natalie, transitioned from an engineering role into a PM role at Airbnb, she was expected to clearly and promptly address C-suite issues within her first month. She had to teach herself how to balance multiple projects at once, and adapt her communication skills to successfully lead employees at varying job levels. While this was a great opportunity for growth, it was a difficult change to make without the guidance and mentorship APM programs provide.
如果没有 APM 计划，进入或过渡到产品管理岗位会更具挑战性。我们中的娜塔莉在 Airbnb 从工程职位转为项目管理职位时，她被要求在第一个月内清楚、及时地解决 C-suite 的问题。她必须教会自己如何同时兼顾多个项目，并调整自己的沟通技巧，以成功领导不同工作级别的员工。虽然这是一个很好的成长机会，但如果没有 APM 项目提供的指导和辅导，要做出这样的改变是很困难的。
That said, regardless of which path you take, the key is to remain adaptable, continuously learn, and focus on delivering value to your users and your business.
尽管如此，无论您走哪条路，关键是要保持适应性，不断学习，并专注于为用户和企业提供价值。
Which PM role is right for you?
哪个 PM 角色适合您？
There are product managers in almost every industry. If you are someone with a background in computer science, engineering, or math, you might be interested in a product management role that is focused on tech-intensive areas like AI. In these roles, being able to “speak the same language” as the engineers is a must.
几乎每个行业都有产品经理。如果你有计算机科学、工程学或数学背景，你可能会对人工智能等技术密集型领域的产品管理职位感兴趣。在这些岗位上，能够与工程师 "说同一种语言 "是必须的。
For early career professionals that have a strong foundation in data analytics and statistics, PM roles that emphasize metrics and measurement might be ideal. Look for larger firms, especially in consumer internet tech. These companies often base their product decisions on sophisticated measurements that indicate how users interact with, enjoy, and continue using their products.
对于在数据分析和统计方面有坚实基础的早期职业专业人士来说，强调度量和测量的 PM 职位可能是理想的选择。寻找大型公司，尤其是消费互联网科技公司。这些公司的产品决策往往建立在复杂的测量基础之上，这些测量结果显示了用户与产品的互动、对产品的喜爱以及对产品的持续使用。
For those passionate about strategy, marketing, and operations, look for PM roles at companies serving large B2B customers. Their bread-and-butter lies in the ability to gain a good grasp of the changing market quickly. You can often identify these positions by their unique job titles, such as, “product manager, partnerships” or roles with a job description that highlight “partnering closely with customers.”
对于那些热衷于战略、营销和运营的人来说，可以在为大型 B2B 客户提供服务的公司中寻找项目经理的职位。他们的立足之本在于能够迅速掌握不断变化的市场。您通常可以通过其独特的职位名称来识别这些职位，如 "产品经理，合作伙伴关系 "或职位描述中强调 "与客户密切合作 "的职位。
For those who have a deep empathy towards users or a background in design, PM roles at early-stage startups could be interesting. Your skills will shine as you gather continuous user feedback, push out rapid iterations, and work on innovative prototyping.
对于那些对用户有深刻理解或有设计背景的人来说，在早期创业公司担任项目经理可能会很有趣。在不断收集用户反馈、推动快速迭代和创新原型设计的过程中，你的技能将大放异彩。
Lastly, keep in mind the size of the company you join. In larger companies with more than 50,000 employees like Meta or TikTok, product communication takes a more structured form. PMs, along with engineering leaders, and design leaders, are expected to share progress and challenges they’re facing in organized meetings for key decision makers.
最后，请记住您所加入公司的规模。在像 Meta 或 TikTok 这样员工人数超过 50,000 人的大公司里，产品沟通的形式会更加结构化。项目经理、工程领导和设计领导要在有组织的会议上与关键决策者分享进展情况和面临的挑战。
In smaller companies or startups, communication is more ad hoc. There aren’t as many rules, and people adapt to the situation. A big product win may be shared in a Slack chat with an entire company. The CEO may be interested in a specific product detail and directly go and ask its PM about it.
在规模较小的公司或初创企业，沟通更多是临时性的。没有那么多规则，人们会根据情况进行调整。产品的重大胜利可能会在 Slack 聊天中与整个公司分享。首席执行官可能会对某个特定的产品细节感兴趣，并直接去询问其 PM。
. . .
Despite recent tech layoffs and a precarious job market, product management remains a vibrant field for early career professionals. It’s estimated that more than a third of open PM roles are entry or mid-level positions. So, take the time to reflect on what drives and excites you, as well as where your strengths lie. Should you choose this path, it could set the stage for a fulfilling and successful career.
尽管最近科技公司裁员，就业市场岌岌可危，但产品管理对于初入职场的专业人士来说仍然是一个充满活力的领域。据估计，超过三分之一的产品管理职位是初级或中级职位。因此，请花点时间思考是什么在推动和激励着您，以及您的优势所在。如果您选择了这条路，它将为您带来充实而成功的职业生涯。
