Welcome back! In part one of this series, we covered the differences between true project manager responsibilities and what many PMs find themselves forced to do, or (more often) what they’d like to do but aren’t empowered to accomplish.
If you didn't score well in the product management self-assessment, take heart – you’re not alone, and you’re not doomed. Nearly every enterprise PM, even the ones who seem to excel, has battled with core skills at some point. What separates those who thrive is the willingness to acknowledge the gaps and actively seek solutions. Modern product management is a team sport and a continual learning process. By openly addressing struggles we can realize these are common challenges with proven solutions. Surveys show the top challenges for PMs include conflicting objectives, insufficient time, and unclear roles. Sound familiar? It’s okay to admit it – recognizing the problem is the first step to fixing it.
Here in part two, we’ll dive into some of the most common problem areas in attributes of product management. We'll also talk about how you can adapt and evolve, then give some concrete tactics you can use to start moving the needle.
Product management is not a one-size-fits-all role, especially in large enterprises. Savvy PMs address their competency gaps not only through self-improvement, but also by adapting the role to fit their strengths. A great place to start is to redefine your responsibilities to focus on the strengths you already bring to the job. For example, an enterprise PM who excels in inbound technical work but struggles with outbound marketing might transition to a platform PM or technical PM position where stakeholder comms are less intense, and another team handles go-to-market
Others may formally split duties with a product owner or project manager, if their org allows, so that the PM can concentrate on strategy and user problems while someone else manages day-to-day scrum processes. In environments that misuse “PM” titles for what is essentially project management, a bold PM can push to redefine expectations – educating the company on true product management (perhaps referencing articles like “You Might Not Be a Product Manager” itself) and slowly shifting their duties toward the product work that matters. This kind of change can be slow, but even small redefinitions (like carving out a regular innovation day, or owning a specific KPI) can help a struggling PM play to their strengths. Let’s take a look at five of the biggest struggles enterprise PMs wish they could improve.
The Struggle: Be honest – do you truly set your product’s vision and roadmap, or does leadership hand it down to you? If your “strategy” comes from a slide deck your boss made for the year, you’re not actually owning the vision. Too many enterprise PMs are stuck executing someone else’s ideas. In effect, you’ve been demoted to backlog administrator. Product management navigates the strategic direction, while project management guides implementation. If you’re only executing orders, you’re acting as a project manager, not a product manager.
How to Improve:
The Struggle: When was the last time you spoke directly with a customer who uses (or chooses not to use) your product? In enterprise settings, PMs often get isolated from users – buried in internal meetings with stakeholders who claim to speak for the customer. If your user insights all come secondhand (sales reports, support tickets, or HiPPO mandates), you’re flying blind. A product manager without customer contact is like a chef who never tastes their own food. Even industry guru Marty Cagan says if your company won’t let you talk to users, that’s a huge red flag.
How to Improve:
The Struggle: Your sales team wants Feature X yesterday. Marketing is pushing for Feature Y because “our competitor has it.” Every exec with a pulse has a pet project for you. And you… you say yes to all of it. If your backlog is a dumping ground for every request, you’ve got a prioritization problem. Great PMs know that focus is key – you can’t build everything at once. But in enterprises, the pressure to please stakeholders can turn a PM into a people-pleaser with an ever-growing roadmap. The result: missed deadlines, half-baked features, and a product with no clear direction.
How to Improve:
The Struggle: Look at your calendar. If it’s wall-to-wall sprint ceremonies, status meetings, and project check-ins, you might be living in project manager mode. Many enterprise PMs end up as glorified project managers or Scrum masters, tracking tasks and chasing statuses, while neglecting true product work. Yes, ensuring the trains run on time is important, but if that’s all you do, who’s actually defining what those trains should carry and why? If you never get to do discovery, research, or strategic thinking because you’re too busy updating Jira and putting out fires, this is a big gap.
How to Improve:
The Struggle: Feature shipped? Great. But did it move the needle for your business or users? Too often, PMs rush to the next project without checking if the last thing they built actually solved the problem. If you’re not religiously tracking product outcomes (e.g. adoption, engagement, revenue, customer satisfaction), you’re just a feature factory. Enterprise PMs can fall into the trap of thinking delivery = success. Meanwhile, the real question is: did we deliver the right thing? Without data and feedback loops, you’re managing a to-do list, not a product.
How to Improve:
If you saw yourself in any of these struggles, take a deep breath – you’re not a bad product manager, you’re likely a product manager in a tough environment. These skill gaps are common, especially in large organizations with legacy structures and competing priorities. The good news is you can close the gaps with conscious effort. Start by acknowledging where you need to improve (no ego, just facts), then tackle it head-on with some of the strategies above.
Being an enterprise PM isn’t easy. You’re navigating big ships with lots of crews. But that’s all the more reason to sharpen your product management skills and break out of the status quo. Push for that vision ownership. Fight for your users’ voice. Say no when it counts. Prioritize outcomes over output. In short, do the real product work that makes you a product manager, not just a product manager in title.
Remember, progress might be gradual – and that’s fine. What matters is moving in the right direction. With each small win (a stakeholder who respects a no, a customer insight that sparks a great feature, a metric that improves because of something you championed), you’ll feel more in control and more fulfilled in your PM career. Keep at it, stay bold, and never stop learning how to improve as a product manager. Your future self (and your products) will thank you for it.
--------------------
Continued Reading:
If you want to dig deeper, check out our post Product Manager vs. Product Owner: The Hows and Whys of Both for additional insights on balancing strategic vs tactical roles. It can help clarify if you’re stuck doing product ownership tasks at the expense of product management.