As an agile team lead, you may be aware of the variety of product manager titles. In some companies, work is carried out according to specific frameworks and there are defined titles with correspondingly defined responsibilities. This certainly has advantages.
At the same time, however, there is the disadvantage that you cannot flexibly invent more or less cool titles yourself, which can then be used with a wink. After all, a funny title can do one thing particularly well: take away the respect for a role that is potentially higher up in the hierarchy.
In this blog post, we take a look at some of thelternative job titles for Product Managers.
Cool Product Manager titles
Typical Product Owner titles
Let's start with a few aalternative job title for Product Managerwhich you may be familiar with, and which are also common in companies – but would probably not primarily be described as "cool":
The core: Product Owner as the heart of the agile team
A very similar designation to Product Manager is Product Owner. Although there are differences –, these are not always taken into account in practice. The product owner is a key role in agile project management. They act as a link between customers, stakeholders and the development team.
Hierarchy in product management: from Associate to VP
The hierarchy of product management titles ranges from entry-level (Associate Product Manager) to Head (VP Product Management). It reflects not only the level of experience, but also the area of responsibility.
Strategic orientation: The Group Product Manager
The Group Product Manager is more than just an experienced product manager – he thinks strategically and is responsible for product groups. Example: The introduction of a Group Product Manager has improved the strategic direction of a product line, leading to an increase in sales.
So, we have laid the foundations, so to speak, of tlternative job titles for Product Managers. Now it's getting a little more exciting.
Cool Product Manager titles
Cool and creative product manager titles
Of course, you can also be more creative. The following list includes some existing and some newly invented alternative job titles for Product Managerwhich may serve as inspiration for you to describe your role as well as possible.
- Product Strategist
- Customer Experience Manager
- Product Innovation Manager
- Product Solutions Manager
- Program Manager
- Head of Product Design
- Product Director
- Product Management Leader
- Senior Product Director
- Lead Product Manager
- Product Engineer
- Product Consultant
- Product Management Specialist
- Junior Product Manager
- Product Trainee
- Product Lead
Okay, and now it's getting particularly creative, it's probably a matter of taste how cool you think the titles are. ChatGPT helped me with these ideas, they are at least inspiring 😄:
- Innovation navigator: Chief Innovation Navigator (CIN)
- Product Strategy Maestro: Product Strategy Maestro (PSM)
- Customer value architect: Customer Value Architect (CVA)
- Agile Product Visionary: Agile Product Visionary (APV)
- Strategic product orchestrator: Strategic Product Orchestrator (SPO)
- Digital innovation sorceress: Digital Innovation Sorceress (DIS)
- Technology Alchemist: Technology Alchemist (TA)
- Customer Trust Engineer (CTE)
- Agile Experience Artisan: Agile Experience Artisan (AEA)
- Growth Architect (GA)
- Collaboration catalyst: Collaboration Catalyst (CC)
- Product Design Artist: Product Design Artist (PDA)
All right, if there's no alternative job title for you as a product manager, then I'm stumped. Finally, let's move on to a tip that should be interesting for every product manager.
“During my 1:1s, it is way too hard to take notes while being focused on the employee.”
"Yes, 1:1 meetings with my employees should be my most important meeting – but I need more guidance for that."
Alternative job titles for Product Manager
How to continuously improve product teams
Of course, it doesn't really matter what you ultimately call yourself. The most important thing is that you deliver customer value in regular iterations. This is exactly where Echometer can help you by serving as your center for continuous improvement of your agile team. It is specifically designed for teams that do not have a dedicated full-time Scrum Master.
On the one hand, Echometer helps with team coaching with a retrospective tool, but also with a one-to-one meeting tool. It focuses on making any team leads from agile teams that have regular one-to-one meetings more efficient.
Make your 1:1 meetings exciting, measure trends and, above all, make progress in the development of your software developers! Try out one of our templates, see below.
No small talk, no awkward pauses. 🥱 This 1:1 template simply always works.
- What achievement are you proud of that I may not have noticed?
- What small change would immediately improve your work?
- What would you like to take more time for at work?
...
With this 1:1 template, you can build a real relationship with your employees 🤝
What achievement are you proud of that I may not have noticed?
What small change would immediately improve your work?
What would you like to take more time for at work?
...
Use this 1:1 template to find out how your employees really feel 📊
- What achievement are you proud of that I may not have noticed?
- What small change would immediately improve your work?
- What would you like to take more time for at work?
...
Use this 1:1 template to find out how your employees really feel 📊
Weather icebreaker: If you had to describe your emotional state as weather, what is the weather like in your project or your tasks at the moment?
- What achievement are you proud of that I may not have noticed?
- What small change would immediately improve your work?
- What would you like to take more time for at work?
...
Use this 1:1 template to find out how your employees really feel 📊
- Weather Icebreaker: How would you describe your emotional state, your project or your tasks as weather?
❄ Freezing cold, 🌪️ Stormy, ☁️ Cloudy, ⛅️ Partly cloudy, ☀️ Sunny - What achievement are you proud of that I may not have noticed?
- What small change would immediately improve your work?
- What would you like to take more time for at work?
...
"Titles can be dangerous if they imply a strong hierarchy. That's why I'm a fan of titles that take everyday working life with humor."
Cool Product Manager titles
Conclusion - Cool Product Manager titles
Finally, another quick hint: If you would like to know how it feels to develop your team with our tool: You can start an agile retrospective below without logging in, in this case the "Keep, Stop, Start" workshop.
Alternatively, simply forward our website to the responsible colleagues: www.echometerapp.com.
