Manish's – Thoughts and Learnings

One common question I frequently encounter is: what does a day in the life of a product manager look like?

Instead of focusing on a single day, let’s delve deeper into what a week in the life of a product manager entails. This approach is more accurate since a single day is not enough to capture the full range of activities a product manager handle.

Product management typically involves five key stages:

1. Discovery – Understanding customer needs and market trends
2. Definition – Defining the product vision, goals, and features
3. Development – Building and testing the product
4. Launch – Bringing the product to market
5. Growth – Scaling the product and expanding the customer base

Depending on the product’s stage, a product manager may focus more on certain activities. However, this doesn’t mean they can ignore other areas. A product manager must allocate time to all stages and be prepared for future phases and unexpected challenges.

Here’s an example of how a product manager might plan their week. Notice that each day is primarily focused on one stage of product management, such as Monday for the Development stage, Tuesday and Wednesday for Discovery and Definition stages, Thursday for Launch and Growth, and Friday returning to Development.