What are the most important soft and hard skills PMs can build to become successful in their field going forward?

Ability to communicate well - Someone told me early in my career: The single most important PM skill he looks for when hiring a PM is communication. Communication is really a proxy for building trust, driving alignment, having healthy debates when there’s conflict and committing to a path forward. That’s all under the hood of good communication, and is instrumental in driving product teams forward. Data driven mindset - relevant to qual as much as to quant. Ask yourself and teams the right quest ...Read More

My top soft skills: Storytelling: As PMs, we must communicate complex ideas clearly and concisely to a range of stakeholders, including developers, designers, executives, and customers. Personally, I spend a good chunk of time creating artifacts that align multiple stakeholders on the direction of my area.  Natural curiosity: I never stop asking a why question. I don't assume others have asked this question or might have a better understanding of customer needs or architecture constraints. I'm a ...Read More

Product management skills are a little tough to nail down, because unlike engineering or design, there is not one set of skills that work for all product managers. Product management needs can be different by industry, company, organization, teams, etc. However, there are 5 key skill categories that I have seen be consistent across most PM roles - product execution, customer insights, data-driven decision making, influencing others, product strategy. At BILL we define these 5 key areas with sub- ...Read More

I answered a similar question before and my answer hasnt changed yet. I think the answer here varies depending on what level of the PM ladder youre in. But, if I were to list down the key pillars, Id say: communication skills - As you know, one of the key responsibilities for a a PM is to articulate vision, strategy, and rationale in a compelling way to inspire and align teams so that everyone is aware of what theyre doing with no issues. I think its this specific point or skill that can break o ...Read More