And we are back with another serving of masaale-daar pulao of PM-ness.
Pulao’s are well-suited for anytime anywhere, and so is this edition. So grab your plates and enjoy:
How technical should a PM be?
Recommended Podcasts of the Week
Product Jobs in Pakistan
Btw doston, Virtual Soch Cafe is around the corner. Whoa, calm down yaar, it’s virtual this time so no seating limitations. Stay tuned to our LinkedIn page for more updates! See you around.
How technical you need to be to succeed as a PM?
This time it’s focused around how much you need to know about code in order to hack product management! You see what I did there?
There is no single answer to this question but there is definitely a more branched hypothesis that roots from the bigger question “Does your domain, organisation or role warrant it?”
Here is what you should ask yourself to determine whether you need to brush up your technical acumen:
Is my organization driven by technological products/services? Or are these only tools used to accomplish company objectives?
For instance, Product Managers working in the pharmaceutical industry supervising the launch of a new medicinal formula should not worry about technicalities even if they are using Salesforce as a CRM for managing business clients.
Is my role tied to engineering? Which departments within my organisation are using my outputs as inputs, and vice-versa?
If you hear yourself saying marketing and pre-sales (Growth PMs), then let’s not worry too much. But if you answered engineering, then knowing the technical jargon and understanding the basics of how software applications function may help you communicate more effectively with your counterparts - hence optimising results for the product.
Now if you are a Product Manager in a tech company - knowing what’s going on significantly helps in calling the shots. How, you ask?
Here is a case study on improving Facebooks’s AR Filters that could give you insights into how you could apply technical knowledge to solving core product problems:
Credits to Alexis and Adrienne.
Now the question is, where do you start from? While there are many resources out there that could help you sip these concepts gradually - we have a personal favourite:
Tech Talk for Non-Developers by Zeeshan Syed. And we have an awesome deal for our Soch fam as well:
Recommended Podcasts of the Week
Product Jobs in Pakistan
Looking for a job? Check out these vacancies and fill out the Google form linked out from the page to apply OR feel free to forward them to someone you know.
Product Manager at Rush (Remote)
Product Manager at Taleemabad (Islamabad)
Product Owner at Yieldwerx (Lahore)
Product Manager at Ailaaj (Remote)
Junior Product Owner at Ailaaj (Remote)
What’s the Process?
A Product Soch member will screen your application. If they see you’re a good fit, they’ll reach out to have a chat & guide you on what to expect. In certain cases, you may be asked to do an assessment that will kept as a record item even for future opportunities. If all goes well, Product Soch will internally recommend you to the company’s HR and lobby to get you into the main interviews.