Product Management is a popular career choice. But, are Product Managers respected?
Yes, successful Product Managers are respected by their colleagues, customers, investors, and everyone else they often interact with. If a Product Manager is not respected, his/her colleagues won’t meet deadlines, customers won’t buy the product, and investors won’t invest in the product either.
Respect originates from the Latin word “respectus,” which is defined as “attention and consideration.” As a Product Manager, you need the attention and consideration of all the people you interact with. This is what will move a product forward in synergy.
How Are Product Managers Respected?
Here are some factors we can look at to determine how much someone is respected by their employer, colleagues, and customers.
Remuneration
Companies show respect to Product Managers in the form of good remuneration. The median income for a Product Manager in the US is $108,992/yr. Much higher than the overall median income at $31,133/yr.
We’re not saying that you are not respected if you don’t earn a lot. What we are saying is that when a company invests a large amount of money in you, it shows a large amount of respect for you.
Cooperation
Cooperation from the teams you manage is a form of respect. The more they respect you, the more willing they’ll be to follow your instructions and trust what you say. When the teams that you run respect you, they will be eager to crush deadlines and go the extra mile to impress you.
This applies not only to subordinates in the company. A successful Product Manager also needs respect from superiors to get cooperation. Since many of the high-level decisions are made by the PM, directors need to trust them to accept their decisions.
Customers, Investors, Partners, And More…
It’s important for you to be respected by external parties like investors and customers. Otherwise, they won’t invest any time or money into your product.
When these types of people or institutions put money into your product, you can be sure they respect you enough to do so.
Related Further Reading:
- Are Product Managers Engineers? (Product Managers Vs. Engineers)
- Do Product Managers Travel? (Why, When, And Benefits Of Travel)
- Are Product Managers Paid More Than Engineers? (Real Figures)
- Do Product Managers Have Direct Reports? (Yes And No)
How To Gain Respect As A Product Manager?
Respect in the workplace leads to more success for the company. Respect leads to more productivity and efficiency.
Respect from the workforce.
Get to know everyone. People can’t respect you if they don’t know you. Likewise, you can’t respect someone if you don’t know them. Make an effort to interact, greet, and chat with everyone around you. Sit down with colleagues and have lunch together.
Whenever you find yourself “one-on-one” time with someone, ask them about their goals and visions for the future. When you join in with groups of people, try to contribute to the discussions they are having.
The more you respect the people you work with, the more they’ll respect you. Never undervalue anyone’s opinion. If someone pitches an idea to you, think about it, and get back to them with feedback, whether you like the idea or not. Just let them know you thought it over thoroughly so that they know you value their opinion.
Learn more about what their job entails. If you know a little about how code works, you’ll be able to communicate better with the engineering team, and they will respect you more for it. You will also gain more respect for them, knowing what struggles they deal with. The same goes for all other positions in the company. The more you know what different people do, the more you’ll be able to connect, empathize, and advise them. This leads to more respect going both ways.
Respect from customers and investors.
Don’t always try to sell to your customers. You do need to show persistence sometimes, but you shouldn’t look desperate. Otherwise, the customers might lose some respect for you if you keep flooding them with sales meetings, calls, and emails. Instead, arrange sales meetings only when there’s something extraordinary to share.
Arrange casual get-togethers, lunches, or golf days. Try to get to know your customers on a personal level, just like you know your workforce.
Always be available. It’s possible to let your customers know that you’re always available without calling them regularly. A friendly email, invitations to events, gifts that promote your brand, and many other forms of communication are valuable. They make the customers happy and also let them know you’re still in business.
Be humble without being meek. Most people respect those who are humble. It’s important to phrase things in a humble tone and body language. You don’t want to appear to be a pompous salesperson. You can say anything you need to say, in a pleasant manner.
You can show enthusiasm for certain things, but don’t overpower every interaction you have with crazy infomercial energy. What we’re saying is you can communicate the same message while being humble or arrogant. Being cool, calm, and collected is part of being humble.
Interesting Further Reading:
- Are Product Managers Paid Well? (Actual Salaries They Get)
- Do Product Managers Code? (Yes And No, Here’s Why…)
- Is Product Management Part Of R&D? (How It Differs From R&D?)
Few Things To Note…
Product Managers are respected because if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be able to do the job effectively. They need respect to get results from the workforce and cooperation from investors, users, partners, directors, etc.
If you aren’t getting much cooperation from the people you interact with, they might not respect you enough to put their trust in you.
Companies respect Product Managers enough to provide them with generous salaries. Product Managers are usually in the top tiers of remuneration.
If you feel you deserve more respect, the advice given above can be used to improve the situation. Just remember that genuine respect is built up over time. If someone respects you just because they know they should, it’s a very weak form of respect, and it can disappear in an instant.
