Because the product manager position has only been around for a few decades, what it includes will differ from firm to organization. However, traditional roles and responsibilities have begun to emerge. Because there are overlaps in what these roles might cover, a product manager may be a glorified project manager or business analyst in some businesses.

While that's a good start, let's dig a little deeper into what a product manager's responsibilities are:

· Determine the requirements of your customers.

· Define the new product's vision.

· Create and fine-tune the product roadmap.

· Create an idea for the product.

· Collaborate with the product team and other members of a cross-functional team.

Keep in mind that the area is still developing, and each organization is unique, so a product manager has no one-size-fits-all path. Mr. Shubham Goyal, Program Manager at Microsoft tells,"The biggest advantage for working as a Program Manager at Microsoft is the rich portfolio of products one has the opportunity to work on & lead. Moreover, program management at Microsoft is in itself, much broader & holistic when compared to mainstream product management in my opinion."

Product managers often have a background in software development. However, others with business or arts backgrounds are increasingly becoming product managers.

Associate Product Manager

An associate product manager is an entry-level position. Large firms with huge product teams use associate product managers, typically recent graduates. Associate product managers could come from any of the fields above. These are some of the responsibilities:

· Assisting product managers in the performance of their obligations

· carrying out market research

· Gathering product specifications

Junior Product Manager

The next step would be a junior product manager role, which can be interchanged with an associate product manager in some situations.

This function is more hands-on as a product team member and involves taking minimal ownership of the product for those who can tell the difference.

The following are some of the junior product manager's responsibilities:

· User feedback is being gathered.

· Defining features, user stories, and user acceptance criteria with developers

· collaborating with the product team to create a unified product vision

Product Manager

The product manager role, which we've discussed extensively in this essay, is the next significant role.

It may take 1-3 years to reach this level, depending on your history and the organization you work for.

Here are some of a product manager's tasks, as indicated previously in the article:

· Identifying consumer requirements

· Creating a vision for the product and a roadmap

· Collaboration with the product team and cross-functional groups

Senior Product Manager

A product manager can advance to the position of senior product manager after gaining about 3-5 years of experience.

You'll be taking on more duties in your role at this level, including the following:

· Product managers to manage

· Managing cross-functional teams' collaboration

· Taking the lead on product strategy

Product Leader

Depending on the company, you might finish up as a product leader before becoming a chief product officer or vice president of product.

One of the main distinctions between this function and a senior product manager is that the product leader is more focused on the product itself. In contrast, a senior product manager has more managerial responsibilities.

The following are some of the tasks of a product leader:

· Taking responsibility for the product's vision and direction

· Recruiting for product-related positions

· Taking control of the product development process

Vice President of Product/Chief Product Officer

The chief product officer, often known as the vice president of product, sits at the very top of the organization. One or both of these responsibilities may exist depending on the organization's structure.

The following are examples of primary responsibilities for these roles:

· Responsible for the company's general product strategy

· Aligning the product team's efforts with those of the rest of the company

Want to know how to get into Product Manager Role? Visit our course here.

Want to know the tools Product Managers use on a daily basis? Head on to our next blog Tools in Product Management .