Why hasn’t a Google emerged from India, or even a smaller technology product such as Adobe? This is a frequently asked question, and the lack of product R&D in India has been explained by many reasons, including the exclusive focus on services, the basic educational system that promotes rote-learning and a paucity of talent. So much has been written on it that we are not going to get into that discussion here!

Instead, in this post, I’d like to look at a more positive aspect of the situation: while a product focus and therefore product management in India has not dominated the market, the situation is slowly changing.

As tech product firms grow, naturally, there is a greater imperative for product management and product managers to be involved and help the firm move to the next level. Here is our list of five essential ‘daily’ skills for product managers working in India in a dynamic and challenging environment. These are not about tools or techniques, but about qualities that every project manager needs.

Setting the scope. Whatever the size of the firm or the scale of the project, “project creep” seems to be an intrinsic part of product development. Product A starts out as a tool to help individuals manage their finances, but soon the powers that be decide that it must be usable for SMEs too; soon, the features demanded are so many that the product doesn’t really meet anyone’s needs well.

A good product manager can be invaluable in setting the scope well, and avoiding a reduction in quality at the expense of quantity. This is easier said than done and may involve conflicts, but it’s better handled early on than seeing your product land in the market with a resounding thud.

Time Management. This may sound basic, but it doesn’t come easy for many, many managers (so much so, that we now have entire blogs dedicated to the topic of time management). The Indian work culture with its coffee breaks and group lunches and cubicle gossip can be a big challenge for managers here. Some tools for better time management include regular to-do lists, setting curbs on Internet time and getting one’s team to adopt time limits for meetings.

Documentation. No one likes it, but everyone needs it, at some point or the other. With start-ups, there is often little documentation of development goals, processes or troubleshooting. Sooner or later, the team changes and that’s when the lack of documentation raises big questions. The smart product manager avoids this with appropriate documentation.

Taking the team along. The term ‘product manager’ is somewhat misleading in one sense – ultimately, the product manager’s focus is not just the product; instead, the product manager is at once a customer evangelist on one end and a team ally on the other. Getting the development team to buy in on customer needs and continuously demonstrating to them why a product needs to be a certain way, is an essential skill for every product manager.

Influence without authority. Related to the previous point, the question for most product managers would be – how does one influence people without authority? In most situations, product managers work with team members who do not report to them and are often peers. Authority therefore comes not from ‘designation’, but from knowledge – team members will listen to you only when they feel that what you are saying springs from a detailed understanding of market conditions. Ergo, the only way to acquire authority is to first become an expert in your market and know as much about it as possible.

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