SVPMA marked its 10-year anniversary with a panel discussion on the key role that product managers play in today’s organizations and the skills PMs need to succeed in the next decade. 120+ attended.
What: “Skills You Need to Succeed as a Product Manager in the Next Decade”
Panel: Rich Mironov (moderator), Tom Grant, Greg Cohen, Christina Noren, Ivan Chalif
When: Wednesday, December 1st, 2010
Where: TechMart, Santa Clara
This turned into a spirited discussion among the panelists and assembled PMs/PMMs with questions on their minds. One interesting thread was about “the right questions to ask” and the “right tools to use” to arrive at the best possible requirements. (See Saeed Khan’s thoughtful post.)
And some pull-the-pin questions from me about finding the right mix of skills, what new buzzwords would replace “social mobile cloud” in next year’s business plans, and how to get more clout (i.e. respect) for product managers in the coming decade. I took a dissenting view when the panel collectively though that agile would be useful outside the development process.
Thanks to all who attended!