The first negative surprise of changing to product management was inability to explain to my parents, what exactly am I doing at work. They have honestly tried all possible jobs they knew, trying to imagine how my typical working day looks like. But no, dad and mom,
I’m not a software developer — I don’t own source code. Developers do.
I’m not a project manager — I don’t own schedules or resources. Project Manager does.
I’m not a software tester — I don’t own product quality. Colleagues from the QA do.
I’m not a team lead — I don’t have staff responsibility. Team Lead does.
I’m not a designer — I don’t own design. Designers do.
I’m not a business analyst — I don’t own a spec, I only tell user stories.
I’m not a marketing manager — I don’t need to care about marketing of my products.
I’m not a translator — I don’t need to care about translations.
I’m not an evangelist — I don’t own product promotion.
I’m not a PR specialist — my colleague is owning PR.
I’m not a statistitian — I don’t own reports. Colleagues from the BI do.
I’m not a customer — I don’t have any project budget. My managers do.
I’m not a support specialist — I don’t own customer support. Colleagues from the Helpdesk do.
I’m not a mini-CEO of my product — my managers are.
So what am I doing then at work?
Hey, I’m a Product Owner!