One of the most challenging parts of starting any new job is learning to speak the language. This is doubly true if it’s in a new field with unfamiliar industry jargon on top of the unique company terminology that seems to be second nature to everyone else on the team.
Stacy Metzger, a product management consultant at MassMutual, recalled the work it took to get fluent when she first took on a product role. She had extensive experience in engineering, marketing and management, but it was up to her to demonstrate and communicate how those skills applied to her new position leading strategy, development and delivery of data science solutions at the insurance enterprise.
“Part of articulating your value is learning the terminology used in product management, technology and your target industry,” she told Built In New York.
Communication, after all, is a key part of the job: Product managers are often the channel linking diverse groups throughout an organization, and so have to be able to speak to and for customers, technical teams and business partners. This leaves room for people with a wide variety of backgrounds to be successful in the role, Metzger said, but it also takes flexibility and dedication to continuous learning.
With the ongoing rise of product management as a career path — in a recent McKinsey survey of more than 5,000 product managers globally, the majority said the function was nascent or in need of substantial improvements at their companies — hearing from those who have made the leap is especially timely.
Below, Metzger shares her journey to leadership at MassMutual and the cross-functional skills that have helped her succeed.
MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that has provided financial products and services to individuals, families and businesses for 172 years.
Tell us about how you pivoted into product management. What were you doing before? Why and how did you make the pivot?
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with businesses and organizations to leverage data and technology to deliver better customer experiences. My explorations often brought me to product development and experience design spaces, which energized me. By leveraging my engineering background and design and marketing skills, I found I could develop solutions for challenging business problems and communicate technical concepts to stakeholders.
For example, before becoming a product manager, I led design charrettes for major transportation projects, which brought people from different disciplines and backgrounds together for intensive solutions workshops. Additionally, in marketing, I conducted competitive analyses to identify product-market opportunities and points of oversaturation. These experiences aligned well with product management.
In my first formal role as a product manager at MassMutual, I worked closely with a team of data scientists to deliver models used in underwriting and predictive risk modeling. I loved working with diverse groups of stakeholders to develop solutions for some of our most material challenges. I knew immediately that product management was a good fit for me.
What hard or soft skills did you need to acquire or strengthen in order to pivot into product management?
When I took on my first product manager role, everything was new, and I had much to learn. Thankfully, I had an incredibly supportive team that helped guide my efforts so I didn’t get lost in a sea of information. I made a plan and studied everything about my products, stakeholders, company and industry. I wanted to build a solid product foundation and stakeholder relationships early, and that approach served me well.
Soon after joining, I was able to speak our product language and had formed strong relationships with stakeholders. This paid off tremendously in the long run. I started receiving invitations to listen in on stakeholders’ strategic planning sessions, which soon morphed into invitations to actively contribute. After developing that base, I acquired more technical knowledge to go deeper into product conversations and become a more effective bridge between data scientists and business partners. While building a knowledge foundation and making connections worked well for me in this circumstance, folks may need a different approach depending on their past experiences, industry and the nature of their role.
The key was being able to articulate how my experience translates into immediate value as a product manager.”
Looking back, what was the biggest challenge when pivoting to a career in product management? How would you recommend others navigate a similar challenge?
One of the biggest lessons I learned, and continue to witness, is that product management can look different everywhere. While that may be confusing for someone looking to transition into the role and wanting a clear list of skills or requirements, it makes it more accessible to different skill sets and backgrounds.
For me, the key was being able to articulate how my experience translates into immediate value as a product manager. My marketing and design background bolstered my visual communications portfolio, whereas my engineering experience allowed me to communicate technical concepts to diverse audiences. My experience managing teams and large infrastructure projects served as a great point of reference for large technical initiatives requiring coordination across an enterprise.
Many of the concepts being leveraged in product management aren’t novel, but they have specific applications in technology. It’s important to understand how to make those translations and communicate the value you will bring to the role.
