How much tech do I need to understand as a product manager?‍

How much tech knowledge should I have as a product manager or technical product manager?

Let's clear up the expectations that are placed on us as PMs. We should be able to do marketing & sales and also research & UX. Oh yes, and we should also be fully-fledged coders. Of course. But all joking aside. What is actually useful for us as PMs? Our tasks include understanding the stakeholders' requirements, coordinating the development teams and maintaining communication with senior management.

Do I have to be able to code as a product manager?No. If you enjoy it, then learn it. It doesn't hurt. But it is not a must-have.

Do I need to understand code?Let's think about it: what would be the advantage? You could look into the development team's code and join in the discussion. Is that your job? No - and you don't have to understand any code. The same applies here: if you enjoy it, you're welcome to learn.

As a PM, do I need to know SQL or another query language?If you have a heavily data-heavy product or often have to collect your own data from your data warehouse, then it may make sense. Otherwise, again, it's not absolutely necessary.

Should I understand which components make up a technical product?frontend, backend, databases, load balancers... Yes, that would be good. Otherwise, you won't find a common language with your development team. That's your job as a product manager. You communicate, bring stakeholders together and contribute to the success of the product. One of the necessary skills of a product manager is to have both technical and strategic skills in order to communicate effectively with all stakeholders.

As a PM, do I need to understand which tech stack I'm sitting on?You don't need to be an expert, but you should definitely know what technologies you & your team are working with and what the basic architecture looks like. A deep understanding of development is crucial to maximize product quality and meet stakeholder requirements.

Why is it important to understand which stack I am sitting on in product development?

Now you might be thinking: But I'm not a developer! Yes, you're not. However, you want to stand out as a good product manager. If you understand how your tech stack basically works, you will become better in the following areas:

• Better sparring with developers: You will understand the technical problems better and thus become a better sparring partner for your team.
• More competent contact person for stakeholders: You can better assess feasibility, making you a better contact for your stakeholders and a better filter for your team. ATTENTION: If in doubt, you should still always ask the team and never agree to deadlines without consulting them.
• Your requirements get better: Because you know the advantages and restrictions of your stack, you can write better requirements.

A product manager is responsible for ensuring that the tech stack is aligned with the business goals and that the team's effectiveness is increased.

You need to understand these tech topics as a product manager

As a product manager, you don't necessarily have to be able to code. However, you do need to be able to communicate effectively with your tech team, i.e. the software developers. These 4 topics will help:

• Data & data flows: What data do we have access to and where? This helps enormously in advance to validate the feasibility of features and to understand how you handle data. Sounds complex to someone who doesn't yet work in product management, but it's actually relatively simple. Where is the data, means in which system or table the data is stored. The data flows describe from where which system receives data and to whom data is provided.
• Systems & connections: What systems are there and how are they connected (external/internal systems such as ERP or external/internal APIs for authentication, for example)? Who manages these systems? Collaboration between product managers and the development teams is crucial here to ensure a common understanding of the product goals.
• Systemic peculiarities: All systems have their peculiarities. These peculiarities influence what we can do with them, what works quickly, what takes a long time... Also ask yourself: Where do we have technical debt? Put simply, ask your developers which systems are perhaps outdated, cause delays, etc. With a little understanding of technology, can you quickly get to the heart of the matter?
• The stack: What technology do we use and what is its special feature? For example, can we write data to the database particularly quickly, but is it slow to read complex data? As with the other questions, the same applies here: in consultation with your software developers, you will quickly understand the relationships, even if only at an abstract level.

Conclusion: As a product manager, you don't necessarily have to be able to program.

Do you have to be able to write or read code as a product manager? You don't have to answer these questions on your own. Rather, you should discuss them with your developer or architect. Our experience shows that development teams are happy to support you here.

As a rule, it is more important as a product manager to understand the issues at an abstract level. But no rule is without exception. The requirements vary from company to company and team to team. You can also address these topics openly in the interview.

It is also important to understand that there are different roles in the product that have different levels of proximity to the technology. Product owners typically work directly with software developers. A project manager, on the other hand, often works in a higher-level role and coordinates various teams without being directly involved in the technical decisions.

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