Skills you 🫵 need to succeed in Agile Product Management, Part 1/3 (EN 🇺🇸)
The Agile Product Manifesto is a helpful guide to mastering agile product development and management. However, it remains useless until you understand where you need to catch up your skills to excel.
Welcome to the inaugural issue of my newsletter “Beyond the Backlog”, where I will dive deep into the world of product development & management and explore the reality that most of you face every day. Get ready to embark on a journey that will challenge your thinking, sharpen your skills, and empower you to become continuously better in agile product development! 💡
I'll start by examining the Agile Product Manifesto, a guide we developed for product, platform, and infrastructure teams that want to make a meaningful impact and create value sooner. In this and the next two episodes of this newsletter, I will peel back the layers of the manifesto and connect it to the skill requirements of a product manager.
Are you a product manager? Then reflect for yourself where you stand!
Are you an aspiring candidate willing to get into responsibility as a product manager? Check for yourself, if you bring some of the basics and if you are really really willing and dare to learn the rest on the job. I would be very happy if my content helps you with this.
Are you a boss or leader of a product manager? Then check on the strengths and weaknesses of your employee, provide him feedback, and help him with an actionable hint to develop a certain skill to a level you consider necessary for the upcoming challenges. Don’t forget: people development is your job; product development is the job of your employee ;-)
So you found yourself and got the task? Great, then let's dive in!
📜 The Agile Product Manifesto: A Compass for Success
The manifesto begins with a powerful statement:
all products and services exist to make the world better.
As a product manager, the role is instrumental in fulfilling this purpose. You are the bridge between the people (customers, end-users & stakeholders), business, and development teams, driving the creation and adaption of products that bring value to the world.

🔑 The Values: Embracing What Truly Matters
The manifesto outlines five core values that are crucial for the successful product development of agile teams. Let me explain how I see each of these values connects to the specific skill requirements of the product manager role 🎯:
Simplicity over perfection
As a product manager, you must prioritize simplicity in product design, ensuring that the user experience remains intuitive and frictionless. Strive to eliminate complexity, especially in tech, and focus on delivering solutions that are easy to understand and use.
🎯 The skill: Simplifying Complex Problems and Solutions
To fulfill this value the essential skill is the ability to simplify complex problems and solutions. You must possess excellent communication skills to distill complex concepts into clear and concise messages. This skill enables you to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and customers, ensuring that the product's purpose and value are easily understood.
Pursuing goals over executing project plans
While project plans are not bad at all and an important tool for projects, in product development your primary focus should be on achieving the goals and outcomes that drive value for your customers and the business. Be adaptable and willing to adjust your plans to align with changing priorities.
🎯 The skill: Goal-Oriented Thinking and Prioritization
A key skill for a product manager is goal-oriented thinking. You need to be able to set and phrase clear objectives, align them with all stakeholders affected (why this matters, I’ll explain in another edition!), and create actionable plans to achieve them. Effective prioritization and project management skills are vital to navigating through changing priorities. Adjust plans as needed, and keep the team focused on delivering outcomes that align with the product vision.
Understanding the problem over thinking of solutions
A key responsibility of a product manager is to understand the problems faced by the target users in depth. Spend time conducting user research, gathering feedback, and empathizing with their needs. This understanding will lead to more effective and relevant solutions for them. And for business.
🎯 The skill: Problem Identification and Analysis
An essential skill for a product manager is problem identification and analysis. You must be adept at conducting user research, gathering feedback, and applying critical thinking to understand the root causes of user pain points and needs. This skill allows you to define sharp problem description as the foundation for product requirements and design solutions that effectively address the underlying problems.
End-user needs over stakeholder opinions
Balancing the perspectives of stakeholders is essential, but it is more important to prioritize the needs and desires of your end-users. Act as their advocate, championing their interests and making them transparent throughout the product development process.
🎯 The skill: Stakeholder Engagement
A product manager needs strong stakeholder management skills. You must be able to actively listen and understand their point of view. Then, communicate effectively, and navigate diverse perspectives to balance stakeholder interests with the needs and goals of end-users as well as with business objectives. The soft skill of stakeholder engagement enables you to build relationships, negotiate priorities, and gain buy-in for product decisions by making end-user and customer needs transparent to them.
Measuring results over assuming impact
While it’s a good idea to start with an assumption, as a product manager, it’s an even better idea to rely on metrics and insights to evaluate the impact of your product or the product idea. Collect meaningful data, set clear success metrics, and leverage analytics tools to measure the actual results achieved, rather than relying on assumptions or gut feelings only. And remember: findings from individual interviews and observed behavioral or process patterns are also data. Data goes beyond tracking tools or sensors.
🎯 The skill: Data and Insights Analysis
As a data-driven product manager, you must have strong analytical skills to identify causal links and measure the impact of your decisions as well as the success of your product. Proficiency in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data allows you to make informed decisions based on evidence and insights. This skill empowers you to track key performance indicators (KPIs), conduct A/B tests, and iterate on your product strategy for continuous improvement by understanding the difference between correlation and causality.

🤝 Reflect and Thrive!
To fully benefit from the Agile Product Manifesto, I encourage you to reflect on these values, principles, and the specific skills required from a product manager within the context of your product and company. Engage in discussions with your colleagues and peers, sharing your thoughts and insights. Think about and get feedback, on where you could develop yourself. Collaboration and continuous learning are key to personal growth and thriving in the world of product management.
Remember, it's all about you in-between people, tech, and business — that's the reality of and the demands on product management!
That's it for this issue. I hope this trip into the skill requirements beyond the values of the Agile Product Manifesto has provoked your thoughts and sparked the inspiration for your product management endeavors. In order not to explode this issue I was only able to give a short overview. I could go into more detail on each of the paragraphs and probably will at some point...
So, stay tuned for the next edition, where I will start explaining how I see each of the Agile Product Manifesto principles connects to the specific skill requirements of the product manager role.
Hold on, before you go…please do me the favor! Since I am new to writing I would appreciate any kind of reaction and feedback on this episode and my aspired newsletter project!
So, if you have any questions, feedback, or topic suggestions, feel free to reach out. Your input is invaluable in shaping the future issues of this newsletter helping other product professionals to thrive.
High Five & see you next time! 👋
Alexej
PS: in the meantime I published the 2nd part, read on: