Product Management

Product Management Learn Path In this tech-savvy era, where deep-rooted products are quickly relocated by newer and advanced solutions, there is more need for a considerate understanding of customers and the capability to generate custom-made solutions for them. That’s where product management comes in. Product managers advance responsiveness for the customer and connect their needs to the wider organization. It is an expeditious and satisfying career offering an array of opportunities for development and growth. If you’re interested in this profession and want to know what is the role of a product manager, what all educational requirements and desired skills you need, then this article is for you.

This is an outline of a more extensive learn path; more details about management courses, learning methodologies, training programs, important tools required, and the future perspective are mentioned towards the end of this article.

What is product management?

Product Management is a progressive field that has a significant impact on an organization and its stakeholders. It is a strategic plan to precisely direct every phase of the product life cycle, starting from research and development to testing and positioning, in order to enable technically viable products to meet user needs and fulfill business objectives.

Product Management discovers and understands users' immediate and potential needs and then cultivates an in-depth solution to product development. Product managers assist decision-making across a team of product developers and designers by highlighting consumer pain points, analyzing their impact, and carving an effective solution.

What is the role of a product manager?

A product manager verbalizes customer needs, studies and analyzes its scalability, and maps out the direction in which its design and development team can lead. A product manager forms a thoughtful vision and provides guidance to the product development team in successfully executing a product.

Qualifications required To pursue a successful career in product management, you need to have a relevant bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science Engineering, Business Administration, or any other relevant field. Most companies prefer candidates who hold a bachelor’s degree in any of these.

A degree in product management diploma course also works in favor of applicants.

Taking an advanced diploma course in technical product development and management will also help in developing desired skills and knowledge to efficiently work in this field.

Learning paths There are two modes of learning a product manager can consider while acquiring desired knowledge for his or her job. These are online and offline modes of learning. On the one hand,

online learning has come out to be a compact alternative to physical classrooms and has facilitated time and place flexibility for learners. Whereas on the other hand, offline learning is the original method of learning and gives a holistic experience to the learner. Both mediums have their own pros and cons. However, in our opinion, the online mode of learning will be more suitable in terms of feasibility, individual practicability, and gaining good exposure to technicalities.

Skills required To become a successful product manager, you’ll need a wide variety of soft and technical skills.

Let’s briefly overview these: ➔ Soft skills

◆ Communication and collaboration: As regards a product manager, you will be communicating with the product developers and designers on a regular basis. ◆ Company Philosophy: You are expected to take some important decisions for product development; thus, you must align yourself with the company’s philosophy. ◆ Creativity: This is what will enable you to think outside of the box to solve customer problems, develop effective solutions and communicate across various teams. ◆ Leadership: Lead by Example. Involve your team members in taking important decisions, understand and align their goals with the organization. ◆ Emotional Intelligence: Develop and maintain strong relationships with your team members. ◆ Level-headedness: Don’t lose your cool under taxing situations and remain determined in extreme situations. ➔ Technical skills

◆ Domain and Business Expertise: You must have a deep understanding and organizational skills to master this field. ◆ User Experience: This is one of the most applicable skills one can possess in this area of work. If you are able to understand what your customers want, then there is no looking back.

How to learn?

Below are few courses that will help you to learn and upskill user experience➔ Google UX Design Professional Certificate Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹2192 ( $28), Duration: 3 months, Level: Beginner Level ➔ UX Jumpstarter by ImaginXP Provider: ImaginXP, Price: ₹60,000 ( $773), Duration: 3 Months, Level: Intermediary Level ◆ Wireframe: A wireframe is an illustration of a product design. Thus, it helps in coordinating the product roadmap with the product strategy.

How to learn? ➔ The UX/UI Design Process - Creating Wireframes and a Final Design Provider: Skillshare, Price: ₹1251 ( $16) per annum subscription, Duration: Approx 2 Hours, Level: Beginner Level ◆ Web Development: This means having basic knowledge of programming languages like CSS, Python, HTML, JavaScript, etc.

How to learn?

There are various online tutorials that will help you to begin your basic training. ➔ Web Development Courses Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹5367 ( $69), Duration: 3 months, Level: Beginner Level ➔ Front-End Development Courses Provider: Codecademy, Price: ₹1499 ( $19), Duration: 350 Hours, Level: Beginner Level ◆ A/B Testing: It helps in analyzing which version of the product to be launched is received well by the users, and it further strengthens the market evaluation capabilities of a product manager.

How to learn? ➔ A/B Testing course Provider: Udacity, Price: Free, Duration: Approx. 1 Month, Level: Intermediary Level ➔ A/B Testing Course Provider: Coursera, Price: Free, Duration: 1.5 hours, Level: Beginner Level ➔ Product management tools As businesses are evolving, so is the need for purposeful product management tools getting widened. Below mentioned are some of the most popular tools: ●

Industry Analysis Tools How to learn? ➔ Gartner Tutorial Provider: Gartner, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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Roadmapping Tools How to learn? ➔ ProductPlan Videos and Tutorials Provider: ProductPlan, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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User Experience Tools How to learn: ➔ OmniGraffle Tutorial Provider: OmniGraffle, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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User Analysis Tools How to learn? ➔ How to create surveys in 10 easy steps Provider: Survey Monkey, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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Product Analysis Tools How to learn? ➔ Mixpanel Basics Tutorial Provider: MixPanel, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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Management Tools How to learn? ➔ Trello Guide Provider: Trello, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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Connection Tools How to learn? ➔ Quick Tour to Slack Provider: Slack, Price: Free, Duration: Self-Paced, Level: All Levels

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Figma

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Advanced Excel and SQL (recommended for experienced professionals) How to learn? ➔ Advanced Excel Training Provider: CFI, Price: ₹7067 ( $91), Duration: 6.5 hours, Level: Advanced Level

Factors to look for in a course Some key points that you should keep in mind while choosing a course for yourself. Choose a course on the basis of: ● Trusted and reputed platform ● Development of technical skillset ● Offers training ● Provision of incentives ● Beware of cyber cracks Final thoughts On the whole, we are continuously witnessing an increase in the opportunities that this field is offering. It is turning out to be an exciting career path. The role consists of many layers, so you may want to dive deep and constantly learn as you grow. Thus, there are a lot of free and paid courses and training programs being offered to reinforce product managers who want to develop their expertise in this field.

We also have a wide variety of learn paths on several other domains. You can go through them from our advice page.

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