Day in The Life of a Product Manager – Part 2: Krishna RKS

Not all days are alike for a Product Manager, yet there are some common themes that cut across. Through this article, I share how a day in my life looks like. If some of the inputs mentioned look very specific, that is only because I’m chronicling a particular day – May 10, 2022.

My Morning Routine

I know that I have a hectic day ahead, yet I’m quite eager to get on, bursting with energy. There are three different topics which requires my attention today – a go-to-market plan for a feature which is completing the development phase, next is the discovery process for a feature which is to be developed in the next quarter, and finally, a customer call in which I will have to present the new enhancements introduced to our product. So, I start my day with the most dreaded but important app on my computer – MS Outlook!

Go-to-Market Plan

By the time I finish checking my emails, it is already 11 AM. I then focus on my first task for the day – which is the go-to-market planning for a new feature, where I’ve to I engage with the Product Marketing team during the planning and strategizing phase. In Sabre, we have a go-to-market hub, which provides comprehensive guidelines, best practices, and reference material that are required for planning the release activities. One of the biggest advantage of working for an organization like Sabre is that there’s a lot of emphasis on processes, SOPs and meticulous codification of knowledge, which allows product managers like me to focus on innovation, rather than having to reinvent the wheel each time. Sometimes, the process could seem like a bottleneck – but with experience comes a broader perspective and the flexibility to adapt without compromising on the process. Now that I have completed my go-to-market plan and related documentation, it’s time to have a stand-up meeting with the development team and the Technical Product Manager (TPM). At this time during the day, my mood is generally enthusiastic and up-beat.

Current Running Features

A big part of my roles and responsibilities is to ensure that the development team does not face any roadblocks while working on the development of new features. For this, I need to do a lot of groundwork, which involves research, planning, and documentation. But my responsibility doesn’t end there – if the execution is not tracked, it could have serious consequences at a later stage. I work closely with the development team, TPMs, and/or Product Owners, on the acceptance criteria and other details. By the time these meetings are done, it’s lunch time. After lunch, I begin the discovery process for an upcoming feature.

Discovery For an Upcoming Feature

The discovery phase typically involves brainstorming with subject matter experts. I collect all the inputs and do further research to help flesh out the plan. I rely on data analytics and use tools like SQL and Hadoop to extract the relevant data points for this. Once I have prepared my findings, I send them over along with necessary action items to all the relevant stakeholders, which is assigned to owners and a timeline is established. After I have all the necessary inputs to complete the feature requirements, I update the feature in Rally. The documentations for the same is uploaded to a knowledgebase for future reference. It’s evening and though I’m a little worried about the remaining task at hand, my enthusiasm has not reduced.

Customer Engagement

From a product management perspective, engaging with customers on a regular basis is very important. At Sabre, we get to do this every other week, which is very healthy. Today, I am going to meet one of the top hoteliers, and a quick search reveals that the participants on today’s call are veterans in the hotel industry. But I am confident and I’ve all my discussion points jotted down. Doing a meeting prep always helps – you are armed with all the information that the customer could ask for. After a very productive call with the customer, I call it a day, and I feel like I’ve had a very productive day. Tomorrow is a new day, with new opportunities and challenges. I hope you like this short glimpse into my typical workday. I’ll conclude this article with one of my favorite quotes, which I practice everyday: . “Be stubborn on vision, but flexible on details”. – Jeff Bezos.