The T-Shaped Product Manager

to do a great job as a product manager or product owner, you require two skills sets: product-specific and generic ones. as the name suggests, product-specific capabilities are limited to a single product or product portfolio. they include a deep understanding of the users with their needs, the competition, and the market trends. they also require an intimate knowledge of the product itself, including its value proposition, key features, user journeys, business goals, and kpis. finally, they demand an insight into how the company works and how things get done—what the company goals are, which processes are used, and who the decision makers and influencers are. as product-specific skills are crucial, i find that many product managers and product owners strive to develop these capabilities. but as important as they are, they are not enough.

in addition to deep product skills, you require generic, transferable product management capabilities, such as, effectively capturing the  product’s value proposition  ,  segmenting the market  ,  validating product strategy assumptions  ,  selecting the right kpis  ,  prioritizing the product backlog  , and  analyzing user feedback and data  . these skills are not specific to an individual product, but transferable. they equip you with the expertise to methodically solve common product management challenges and they enable you to move between jobs and verticals if you wish to do so.

balancing the specific and generic skills leads to a t-shaped skills profile and makes you a t-shaped product manager or product owner, as the following picture shows.

the horizontal bar is the ability to effectively apply product management concepts, techniques, and tools to different products in different markets and companies. the vertical bar on the t above represents the depth of related skills and expertise for a single product or product portfolio.

growing your horizontal skills

having strong horizontal skills enables you to work in a methodical way and to manage different products in different companies. as these skills form a large set, i like to divide them into three sub groups: strategic, tactical, and leadership capabilities, as the picture below shows.

strategic skills include the ability to develop an  effective product strategy  ,  actionable roadmap  , and working business model. tactical skills help you  capture requirements  ,  manage the product backlog  , and  validate ideas for new features and feature enhancements  . leadership skills enable you to effectively  guide the development team  and lead the stakeholders, create an  inspiring vision  , and reach  sustainable agreements  , to name just a few.

to become a competent product professional, you should strive to develop all three skill areas—leadership, strategy, and tactics. even if you currently fill a tactical product role, increasing your leadership and strategy skills will help with your current job: you will be able to collaborate more effectively with the individual who sets the vision and decides the product strategy and  earn their respect and trust  .

additionally, it will enhance your employability, enable you to progress your career and take on a role that includes strategic responsibilities in the future. and competent and well-skilled product people increase the chances of innovating successfully and maximizing the benefits that digital products provide.

to get started, explore how strong your skills are in each of the three groups. ask yourself, for example, how much you know about creating and validating a product strategy, about product roadmapping, and business model development. then focus on those skills where improvements will help you most with your current job. taking my  product management test  helps you with this. here are some of the questions it asks you:

• do you know how to formulate an inspiring vision for a product?
• do you know how to make effective decisions and generate strong buy-in?
• can you describe different segmentation techniques?
• do you know what a product strategy is and what its key elements are?
• can you describe the business model of your product?
• do you know when and how to review, adjust, and change your product roadmap?
• do you know how to prioritize product backlog items? can you state different prioritization techniques and explain when each one is the most appropriate?
• do you understand how to validate your product including the user experience and the features? do you know when to choose which technique?

developing your vertical skills

deep product-specific skills are important to make the right product decision and move your product in the right direction. here are some activities that i find helpful to strengthen this skillset:

• visit users and customers at least once per quarter. nothing beats meeting real users, even if you have tons of analytics data at your disposal.
• regularly collect and analyze user feedback and data using qualitative and quantitative techniques to better understand how people interact with your product and discover opportunities to improve the product.
• use your own product (a.k.a.  eat your own dog food  ). this helps you discover shortcomings and opportunities for improvement, as well as empathize with the users.
• attend conferences and trade shows to stay on top of market trends and see what other companies are working on.
• regularly read trade journals, product reviews, and user forum messages to see what’s happing in your industry and how people respond to your product.
• test competing offerings. this helps you understand if your product is properly differentiated.
• build strong relationships with the development team, the scrum master, the product sponsor, and the other key stakeholders. why not invite the sponsor to a coffee, for example, as a way of making time to listen to a concerned stakeholder, or bring treats to the sprint planning meeting?
• network with your product colleagues. build a community of practice, for instance, by hosting brown bag lunches to learn more about each other’s products and practices.
• finally, pay attention to corporate emails, newsletters, and magazines to see if developments in your company affect your product, such as changes in senior and executive management, changes in the business strategy including acquisitions and spin-offs, and changes in the development group.

as far as i know, my colleague ellen gottesdiener was the first person to suggest that product managers should be t-shaped in her article “  5 ways to recognize a great product manager  ”.