Contents

1. Overview on Product Management
2. Who is a Product Manager?
3. What makes a good Product Manager?
4. Beginner PM courses
5. Advanced PM courses
6. Conclusion

Overview on Product Management

Product Management is a fast-paced, organizational function deeply rooted in the process of building and improving products to ensure their success in the market upon launch.

Businesses are starting to realize that in order to achieve favorable outcomes, their products must rise above competition and customer expectations. In order to do this, companies seek expert product managers to help bridge the gap between potential products and consumer needs.

Who is a Product Manager?

A product manager oversees the development of a product from beginning to end and guarantees its success in the market upon launch.

Product managers are responsible for a number of tasks ranging from:

• Defining the vision for a product and bringing it to fruition,
• Conducting market research and analysis,
• Guiding the strategic direction to achieve goals,
• Establishing smooth cross-team collaboration.

The end goal of every product manager is to provide positive business outcomes while ensuring that all user needs are met.

In short, product managers are responsible for turning ideas for a successful product into reality by understanding customers’ needs, strategizing on its development, and working with teams to ensure successful delivery of the product.

What makes a good Product Manager?

Product managers must often deal with a heavy workload and manage a team of people, while maintaining harmony across all functions during the development process.

Because of this, product managers should possess high emotional intelligence, good analytical and problem-solving skills, and effective leadership qualities.

This gives them the ability to:

• Build strong relationships with both the customers and team members,
• Effectively lead a cross-functional team,
• Assess potential strategies and ideas to promote during the development process,
• Track, report and give feedback regarding the team’s progress,
• Keep their composure as they tackle obstacles along the way,
• Focus on achieving the main objective of the product (e.g., meeting consumer demands).

Beginner Courses

1. Product Management Fundamentals - EntryLevel

Duration: The course can be completed within 6 weeks.

Institution: EntryLevel

Key Topics:

• Introduction to Product Management
• Product discovery and market validation
• Minimum Viable Product strategies
• Application of prioritization and estimation frameworks

Pros:

• Beginner-friendly,
• The course is created by seasoned Product Management experts,
• Gain hands-on experience in building products to solve real-world user problems,
• Apply learning when crafting your own portfolio,
• Free certificate upon completion of the course,
• 7-day refund guarantee.

Cons:

• The 6-week program may be too long or too short in duration for some students.

EntryLevel’s Product Management course is a beginner-friendly and hands-on program that is designed to teach students the foundations of Product Management and equip them with the skills necessary to build successful products and excel in the field.

The program dives into the fundamentals of Product Management and its processes, discusses the product lifecycle, and introduces tools and frameworks for conducting research and market analysis. It also involves hands-on experience of conducting user interviews, using Minimal Viable Prototypes in solving customers’ problems, transforming research into product features, and applying prioritization and estimation with the use of different methods.

Participants gain the opportunity to collaborate with peers, build a portfolio to showcase their newfound skills, and receive a certificate upon completion.

2. The Complete Product Management Fundamentals Course - Udemy

Duration: The duration of the course is only 4 hours and 2 minutes in total.

Institution: Udemy

Key Topics:

• The basics of Product Management
• The agile essentials for Product Managers
• Practical applications on metrics, analytics, and road mapping
• Design in Product Management
• A/B Testing in Product Management

Pros:

• Beginner-friendly,
• The course was developed by a successful Product Manager,
• Full access to resources and templates,
• Receive a certificate of completion.

Cons:

• The course content includes 34 lectures, most of which are in videos.

Udemy’s Product Management course is designed to help beginners master the key concepts in Product Management and equip them with the necessary tools to succeed in the role. This comprehensive training program offers the opportunity to discuss with successful Product Managers and watch real-world examples taking place.

Once enrolled, participants gain lifetime access to learning materials such as videos and articles. They will also receive a certificate upon completion of the course.

3. Real-World Product Management Specialization - Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT)

Duration: Participants will dedicate 10 hours a week and complete the course within one month.

Key Topics:

• Mapping customer personas
• Application of Bain’s elements of value
• Competitive analyses
• Drafting of product vision and roadmaps
• Designing A/B tests
• Product pricing and analysis of financial statements
• Application of knowledge in strategy, product design, data analysis and estimation in interviews

Pros:

• Comprehensive course with lots of hands-on projects,
• In-depth training for PM interviews with real-time feedback,
• Curriculum designed by industry experts from renowned tech companies,
• Earn up to 6 college credits eligible at participating U.S. colleges and universities.

Cons:

• The course is not free.
• No refund policy.

The Real-World Product Management Specialization course is a beginner-friendly program offered by Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT) - available through Coursera. Led by Product Management experts, this course is designed to introduce participants to the field, equip them with technical, design, and leadership skills applicable in real-world situations, and train them in preparation for interviews.

The program is a four-course series: each part covers various topics which focus on user needs and competitive analyses, product vision and road mapping, A/B test design, practical application, and interview preparation.

Participants of this course can gain up to 6 college credits as they learn top product management skills from over a dozen Product Management leaders from Amazon, Google, and more.

Advanced Courses

4. Product Strategy - Reforge

Duration: 4 weeks

Institution: Reforge

Key Topics:

• Feature strategy - including the evaluation of current features and using them to map improvement strategies
• Growth strategy mapping through qualitative growth models
• Product saturation and market fit strategies
• Scaling strategies and evaluation of three types of scaling work (tech scaling, process scaling, and user scaling)

Pros:

• Deeply centered on Product Management strategies,
• Opportunity to apply learning in projects,
• Only requires 3 to 5 hours of weekly time commitment,
• Includes both asynchronous projects and live events.

Cons:

• Membership is required to avail Reforge courses.

Specifically designed for directors and current heads of Product, the focus of this Product Strategy course is on training current product managers to hone their execution and strategy skills as they work towards becoming better product leaders.

This program will guide professionals on how to effectively apply frameworks in order to build, communicate and execute a cohesive product strategy.

5. Advanced Product Management - RMIT Online

Duration: The course can be completed in 6 weeks, with a time commitment of 6 hours per week.

Institution: RMIT Online

Key Topics:

• Introduction to the five stages of product lifecycle management
• Data analysis and insights
• Product ideation and user testing
• Risk and impact assessment
• Structuring investment plans
• Product strategy execution through Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Pros:

• Learn with leading industry experts,
• Flexible online learning,
• Receive an RMIT credential upon completion of the course.

Cons:

• Participants with minimal experience must first take a Product Management Fundamentals course.

This is an advanced course specifically designed for current product managers and strategic leaders looking to develop their knowledge and skills.

The program teaches participants how to launch products and optimize the product value chain as they dive into various aspects such as product innovation, lifecycle management, data analysis and commercial acumen.

Through this course, participants will have the opportunity to build effective business and product strategies to apply to their own products as part of their final project.

Conclusion

Product management is a vital function that helps businesses rise above and gain a competitive advantage against growing competition and customer expectation. This process involves lots of strategic planning in order to effectively build and enhance products which will thrive in the market.

The success of a product relies on a Product Manager’s ability to empathize with consumers and their needs, provide them with tangible solutions by turning product ideas into reality, ensure smooth collaboration across all functions and guide the team as they navigate challenges throughout the entire process.

Plenty of courses from leading institutions are now readily available online for those looking to break into the role or enhance their skills in order to excel in the field of product management.