I knew a Business Analyst from a large multinational company. She was great at her job.
She designed new features, wrote specifications, updated user guides, conducted user training workshops, collaborated with developers, users, and other stakeholders… Her daily responsibilities predominantly fit those often found in a product manager’s job description
But she didn’t become a product manager. The company tried to put her into that role, but she disliked it. It requires too many other things for her to enjoy the work. Not everyone likes Marketing, P&L, and Sales…. Not her especially. Plus she hated the politics on the Product teams.
She left a few months afterward.
As I compared the roles of a Business Analyst to a Product Manager in another article, a Product Manager is responsible for the whole product life cycle, from start to beginning. That means a Product manager’s responsibility is larger than that of a Business analyst’s more focused delivery of business outcomes. Since the product is available to external customers, Marketing, Sales, and P&L… became her responsibilities.
Speaking from my experience being a product manager myself (that is another story), being responsible for an external product is harder than that of an internal product. Not everyone has the training in economics, finance, and marketing to do it well. And not everyone has the capacity to absorb additional learnings and tasks. Some, especially technical folks, do not like such topics. While she had done incredibly well migrating from an engineering graduate to a business analyst, she just did not conquer Marketing, Sales, and P&L… this time.
Perhaps she did not have what it took. Or perhaps she was drained of her energy by the politics in her product manager role.
Being a product manager exposed her to a lot more stakeholders than she had encountered when she was a business analyst. She now had to talk to, depend on, provide updates, ask favors, or grant favors to marketing, sales, and accounting counterparts who had their own priority, agendas. She now had to report to the Head of Products and business executives who had little idea of reality on the ground or how things actually get done. She was under constant stress dealing with them.
Lack of support from her team was the deciding factor. While it was fun, supportive, and understanding in the development team — her previous team, politics was rampant in the product team. There was certain competition for resources, visibility, and promotions within the team. The environment was toxic and stressful. Being new there, she was alone. Being innocent, she was lonely, lost, and treated unfairly. It was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
In conclusion, this failed attempt to transition from a Business Analyst to a Product Manager serves as a reminder that while such a transition may seem like a logical step forward, the inclusion of additional responsibilities (e.g. in sales, marketing, P&L management), and navigating the intricate world of office politics can significantly impact one’s job satisfaction and success.
This experience highlights the need for companies to recognize the distinct strengths and inclinations of their employees, acknowledging that not every professional is suited for the multifaceted role of a Product Manager.
Not every analyst wants to be a product manager!
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