Product Management

Product management has become a critical connective role for modern organizations, from small technology startups to global corporate enterprises. And yet the day-to-day work of product management remains largely misunderstood. In theory, product management is about building products that people love. The real-world practice of product management is often about difficult conversations, practical compromises, and hard-won incremental gains. In this book, author Matt LeMay focuses on the CORE connective skills— communication, organization, research, execution—that can build a successful product management practice across industries, organizations, teams, andtoolsets. For current and aspiring product managers, this book explores:? On-the-ground tactics for facilitating collaboration and communication? How to talk to users and work with executives? The importance of setting clear and actionable goals? Using roadmaps to connect and align your team? A values-first approach to implementing Agile practices? Common behavioral traps that turn good product managers bad

"Product management isn't about you and it isn't about your product. It's about solving problems for your customers, creating a solution, and taking it to market." When I started in product management, I had a lot of questions, like "What is product management?" It's a common question still, but most people don't have a good answer. After all these years, the same questions keep coming up. I see them on forums, I hear them when I talk to new and experienced product managers, and I still do not see them being answered well or usefully. So I wrote this book, with the answers to the questions I always had. You'll learn: The real reason people choose to buy a product - it's not about how "good" the product is! How to get the very best from your developers. The 5-word phrase that can accelerate sales and marketing. The best ways to talk to executives and customers about what you're building. Among other critical information, you'll find a powerful framework for thinking about product management - and even for talking to your Mom about what you do. The framework provides an infrastructure for most of The Secret Product Manager Handbook. I provide a concrete and explicit explanation of why product management is so important for businesses, including a calculation of the true business value of product management. And the book is full of specific techniques and practices for transforming your product management career. What People Are Saying "Nuggets of product management wisdom and ideas you'll want to hang on your monitor. The book is like having a conversation with a mentor." (Ken Hanson, Growth Product Manager) The summary of product management - identify market problems, guide the creation of solutions, and take the solutions to market - is powerful. As a former engineer, it's especially important to be reminded of the third point" (Frank Licea, Product Manager) "The intro is one of the clearest and smartest explanations of the value a product manager should bring to the table I've ever read." (Luca Candela, VP of Product Management)

If you’re new to software product management or just want to learn more about it, there’s plenty of advice available—but most of it is geared toward consumer products. Creating high-quality software for the enterprise involves a much different set of challenges. In this practical book, two expert product managers provide straightforward guidance for people looking to join the thriving enterprise market. Authors Blair Reeves and Benjamin Gaines explain critical differences between enterprise and consumer products, and deliver strategies for overcoming challenges when building for the enterprise. You’ll learn how to cultivate knowledge of your organization, the products you build, and the industry you serve. Explore why: Identifying customer vs user problems is an enterprise project manager’s main challenge Effective collaboration requires in-depth knowledge of the organization Analyzing data is key to understanding why users buy and retain your product Having experience in the industry you’re building products for is valuable Product longevity depends on knowing where the industry isheaded

Your one-stop guide to becoming a product management prodigy Product management plays a pivotal role in organizations. In fact, it's now considered the fourth most important title in corporate America—yet only a tiny fraction of product managers have been trained for this vital position. If you're one of the hundreds of thousands of people who hold this essential job—or simply aspire to break into a new role—Product Management For Dummies gives you the tools to increase your skill level and manage products like a pro. From defining what product management is—and isn't—to exploring the rising importance of product management in the corporate world, this friendly and accessible guide quickly gets you up to speed on everything it takes to thrive in this growing field. It offers plain-English explanations of the product life cycle, market research, competitive analysis, market and pricing strategy, product roadmaps, the people skills it takes to effectively influence and negotiate, and so much more. Create a winning strategy for your product Gather and analyze customer and market feedback Prioritize and convey requirements to engineering teams effectively Maximize revenues and profitability Product managers are responsible for so much more than meets the eye—and this friendly, authoritative guide lifts the curtain on what it takes to succeed.

In today’s lightning-fast technology world, good product management is critical to maintaining a competitive advantage. Yet, managing human beings and navigating complex product roadmaps is no easy task, and it’s rare to find a product leader who can steward a digital product from concept to launch without a couple of major hiccups. Why do some product leaders succeed while others don’t? This insightful book presents interviews with nearly 100 leading product managers from all over the world. Authors Richard Banfield, Martin Eriksson, and Nate Walkingshaw draw on decades of experience in product design and development to capture the approaches, styles, insights, and techniques of successful product managers. If you want to understand what drives good product leaders, this book is an irreplaceable resource. In three parts, Product Leadership helps you explore: Themes and patterns of successful teams and their leaders, and ways to attain those characteristics Best approaches for guiding your product team through the startup, emerging, and enterprise stages of a company’s evolution Strategies and tactics for working with customers, agencies, partners, and external stakeholders

This book will help you become a better product leader. Benefitting from Roman Pichler's extensive experience, you will learn how to align stakeholders and guide development teams even in challenging circumstances, avoid common leadership mistakes, and grow as a leader. Written in an engaging and easily accessible style, How to Lead in Product Management offers a wealth of practical tips and strategies. Through helpful examples, the book illustrates how you can directly apply the techniques to your work. Coverage includes: * Choosing the right leadership style * Cultivating empathy, building trust, and influencing others * Increasing your authority and empowering others * Directing stakeholders and development teams through common goals * Making decisions that people will support and follow through * Successfully resolving disputes and conflicts even with senior stakeholders * Listening deeply to discover and address hidden needs and interests * Practising mindfulness and embracing a growth mindset to develop as a leader Praise for How to Lead in Product Management: "Roman has done it again, delivering a practical book for the product management community that appeals to both heart and mind. How to Lead in Product Management is packed with concise, direct, and practical advice that addresses the deeper, personal aspects of the product leadership. Roman's book shares wisdom on topics including goals, healthy interactions with stakeholders, handling conflict, effective conversations, decision-making, having a growth mindset, and self-care. It is a must read for both new and experienced product people." ~Ellen Gottesdiener, Product Coach at EBG Consulting "Being a great product manager is tough. It requires domain knowledge, industry knowledge, technical skills, but also the skills to lead and inspire a team. Roman Pichler's How to Lead in Product Management is the best book I've read for equipping product managers to lead their teams." ~Mike Cohn, Author of Succeeding with Agile, Agile Estimating and Planning, and User Stories Applied "This is the book that has been missing for product people. Roman has created another masterpiece, a fast read with lots of value. It's a must read for every aspiring product manager." ~Magnus Billgren, CEO of Tolpagorni Product Management "How Lead in Product Management is for everyone who manages a product or drives important business decisions. Roman lays out the key challenges of product leadership and shows us ways of thoughtfully working with team members, stakeholders, partners, and the inevitable conflicts." ~Rich Mironov, CEO of Mironov Consulting and "Smokejumper" Head of Product

A guide to product management exploring the best practices: identifying the impact-driven product, planning for success, setting up and measuring time-bound metrics, and developing a lean product roadmap. Key Features Identifying Impact-Driven Products Investing in Key Business Outcomes Value mapping to maintain a lean product backlog Utilizing time-bound product metrics Eliminating process waste Book Description Lean Product Management is about finding the smartest way to build an Impact Driven Product that can deliver value to customers and meet business outcomes when operating under internal and external constraints. Author, Mangalam Nandakumar, is a product management expert, with over 17 years of experience in the field. Businesses today are competing to innovate. Cost is no longer the constraint, execution is. It is essential for any business to harness whatever competitive advantage they can, and it is absolutely vital to deliver the best customer experience possible. The opportunities for creating impact are there, but product managers have to improvise on their strategy every day in order to capitalize on them. This is the Agile battleground, where you need to stay Lean and be able to respond to abstract feedback from an ever shifting market. This is where Lean Product Management will help you thrive. Lean Product Management is an essential guide for product managers, and to anyone embarking on a new product development. Mangalam Nandakumar will help you to align your product strategy with business outcomes and customer impact. She introduces the concept of investing in Key Business Outcomes as part of the product strategy in order to provide an objective metric about which product idea and strategy to pursue. You will learn how to create impactful end-to-end product experiences by engaging stakeholders and reacting to external feedback. What you will learn How do you execute ideas that matter? How can you define the right success metrics? How can you plan for product success? How do you capture qualitative and quantitative insights about the product? How do you know whether your product aligns to desired business goals? What processes are slowing you down? Who this book is for If you are leading a team that is building a new product, then this book is for you. The book is targeted at product managers, functional leads in enterprises, business sponsors venturing into new product offerings, product development teams, and start-up founders.

Gain all of the techniques, teachings, tools, and methodologies required to be an effective first-time product manager. The overarching goal of this book is to help you understand the product manager role, give you concrete examples of what a product manager does, and build the foundational skill-set that will gear you towards a career in product management. To be an effective PM in the tech industry, you need to have a basic understanding of technology. In this book you’ll get your feet wet by exploring the skills a PM needs in their toolset and cover enough ground to make you feel comfortable in a technical discussion. A PM is not expected to have the same level of depth or knowledge as a software engineer, but knowing enough to continue the conversation can be a benefit in your career in product management. A complete product manager will have a 360-degree understanding of user experience and how to craft beautiful products that are easy-to-use, with the end user in mind. You’ll continue your journey with a walk through basic UX principles and even go through the process of building a simple set of UI frames for a mock app. Aside from the technical and design expertise, a PM needs to master the social aspects of the role. Acting as a bridge between engineering, marketing, and other teams can be difficult, and this book will dive into the business and soft skills of product management. After reading Product Management Essentials you will be one of a select few technically-capable PMs who can interface with management, stakeholders, customers, and the engineering team. What You Will Learn Gain the traits of a successful PM from industry PMs, VCs, and other professionals See the day-to-day responsibilities of a PM and how the role differs across tech companies Absorb the technical knowledge necessary to interface with engineers and estimate timelines Design basic mocks, high-fidelity wireframes, and fully polished user interfaces Create core documents and handle business interactions Who This Book Is For Individuals who are eyeing a transition into a PM role or have just entered a PM role at a new organization for the first time. They currently hold positions as a software engineer, marketing manager, UX designer, or data analyst and want to move away from a feature-focused view to a high-level strategic view of the product vision.