Networking in Product Management

A great way to know what others are doing

So I went to a networking event in my city organized by ‘The Product Folks’ community. This networking event was about meeting other product managers or aspirational product managers working across different organizations.

As a new product manager myself, I have been in situations where I was at a crossroads but had no one to speak to, as the product management space is too new to know people. I believe it would have been great if only I would know people and discuss my challenges and gain their point of view.

The event that I attended where I was meeting people from similar backgrounds but from different organizations was altogether an amazing experience. There are a couple of things I learned about from such mixers and why one should attend them:

1. It is an excellent space to open up, be it a seasoned product manager or an aspiring product manager. We as product managers usually work in silos or as individual contributors. We are mostly the sole person with this role on the team which somewhere silently builds barriers in the mind. But such mixers give you the advantage to go and introduce yourself and break those barriers. It is a great brain muscle flex.
2. Event sponsors and other product managers spoke about their brands and products. I was surprised to know so much product culture is getting built in the country.
3. As someone from a non-product manager background, you get to meet product managers with a range from 2-month-old to 10 years of experience. No one was born a product manager, everyone transitioned into the role at some point in time. You get to understand how and from where these people made that transition. Their journey will in fact encourage you to navigate yours.

One should give it a try at such events and try to understand what others are doing in the space. Ask your questions and gain more clarity as you tread your product management path. And, yes don’t forget to have fun!

This is my laptop!