Great Product Manager: Product Management by a Big Tech's PM

Let's understand who a Product Manager is what is that he/she does. From this class on, almost every class comes with a downloadable PDF with the key highlights of the class. Each chapter closes with a collective PDF for notes from all classes of said chapter. The course concludes with a collective PDF from all classes and chapters.

Let's look at why the role is so great and what are the potential rewards after landing such a position.

In this chapter, I'll give you the tools to conceptualize your product or product improvement and choose the right path of development. Enjoy!

In this class, I will explain what a product vision is and how it can be helpful for your work. Many teams and companies lose the actual vision's meaning and feed you with a vision that is only big words with no substance. I'll teach you to create and meaningful and helpful vision.

Vision can be high level and vague and it should never be fully realised. But getting to that vision is a journey and its elements are called a strategy. Let's look at how to build your strategy!

An article with additional example strategies.

If vision is our destination, the strategy is how to get there, then values will be... ? Check this class to find out!

In this class, I'll present the SWOT technique. A very useful method to understand where your product is at the moment and figure out your next steps. Watch the class to find out how it works!

In this class, I'll show you how to create user personas - archetypes of your users that will help you better visualize and understand the purpose of updates chosen for your products.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

In this chapter, I'll present time management in two different aspects:

- Managing development, by looking into the most popular code development frameworks

- Managing your time so you can do the most productive work during the day.

Let's begin!

In this class, we'll look at Kanban - an easy and efficient way to manage small to medium projects.

Agile Scrum is the most popular development framework used in the world at the moment. It's big and complicated and frankly, I could open another course only about scrum. But for this course, let's get to know the basics and get the right vocabulary and understanding for classes to come!

Product Manager and Product Owner can be the same roles.. Or not. Let's look at different scenarios and how do the two roles cross each other.

To close out the framework part, let's look at the waterfall development framework - the classical one. Just a few basics to be sure you know what to say when you are asked about it on a job interview.

Now, here is where the "practical" aspect of this course kicks into overdrive - I'll share with you all the skills and tricks I know to best manage your time. Let's get started!

Now, a class similar to the previous one, but focused on organizing your day, not the time overall. I'll show you how to manage your tasks and energy over the 8'ish hours of work every day.

Even if you are a genius time manager, you won't be able to do it alone. You will need to delegate some tasks. This class will help achieve the right mind set.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

Communication is always key to great product management. It can elevate a mediocre Product Manager to greatness, but also make the best of us look not competent. This is the skill I will help you master in this chapter.

You will most often communicate with stakeholders. I will help you understand who they are and how to best interact with them.

While this task is directed primarily to people who already have some product position, don't feel like it's not worth your time.

Basically list all the stakeholders you have in your position, rate their importance, and actions you take to keep in touch with them.

I have attached a helpful excel sheet that also includes an example that will help you fill out this document. Perhaps you should consider setting up some weekly/biweekly/monthly catch-up meetings or reminders to send these stakeholders an update in your calendar?

What will you do to make sure your stakeholders are up to date with your progress?

A critical aspect of any email or conversation, in terms of product, is managing expectations. You need to keep users excited but grounded in reality. It's a hard skill to master - I'll help you do it!

Emails can kill your efficiency and take up far too much time. In this class, I will help you tell the efficiency-killing and efficiency-boosting aspects apart.

Not only emails can be your enemies in creating effective communication. I'll look into their younger sibling, the communicators, in this class and help you tame those beasts!

A meeting can push any project forward or can be a waste of time. Some of us really hate meetings, especially if they take up most of the Product Manager's day. In this class, I will help you lead any meeting to a fruitful conclusion.

Your ideas, results and much other communication will be supplemented with a Powerpoint (or similar) presentation. Do you think it's great slides that are the key to a great presentation? The answer given in this class may surprise you.

Now, communication is not only meeting, emails and presentations. it's also daily interactions with your team which are the way you can get the whole team working as well as possible. In this class, I will show you how can you facilitate it.

Sometimes in your well-oiled machine that is your team, something may get broken. This class will help you to fix it!

When your project is stuck and all hope has failed, you always have the option of escalating the issue. In this class, I will teach you how and when to use this, often extreme, tool.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

In this chapter, I will present different actions you can do to plan out your development, which is closer to creating the very code. You will know how to best plan your product actions and where to put emphasis.

In this class, I will show you where should you find ideas and inspiration. I'll help you build a good routine and best practices to always be creative and ahead of the game with your product.

To best reach your clients, you need to understand your clients and what stands between you and them - the competitors. You should also be able to estimate if your idea/product has a potential market interested in it. This is all that I teach in this class.

Based on the previous lecture, use your phone's store (Play Store for Android and App Store for iOS) to analyze the market of the apps which are full-screen clocks. The questions you need to answer:

• How many such products are there?

  • List their names

• How often are they downloaded (How many people are interested in a similar app?)

  • Put numbers of users next to apps' names

• How are they monetized? (Ads? Do they need to be purchased? 100% free?)

  • Try to estimate their income to date

• Why do the best- and worst-rated apps of this type have such ratings?

  • Check reviews for users' feedback

  • Add average rating

  • Make notes on what users liked and disliked

• What features do those apps have?

• Do you believe there is a space for an additional app like this? If yes, how different/better would a new one have to be to win clients?

This is an intentionally vague task to make you google and experiment on how to best approach some of those steps. With such a Product task, you will often need to learn on the fly and be creative. When looking for data, it's ok to use your best estimate, even when you know it might be way off! If needed, reach out for help on Linkedin or Discord for advice.

Good luck with the task! 

If you'd like to see feedback about your work, come to the course's Discord server to present your work! I'll surely look at it and reply!

Since I have mentioned you need to understand your clients, let's make it more literally in this class. In this class, I teach you how to talk to your clients and ex-clients directly and get the most of it! Remember, it's about inspiration, not creating direct backlog items.

Ok, something different now. It's a bit of a philosophical class about how to plan your product long term. We, the Product Managers, need to think about our products 1,5 and 20 years ahead! Hope you'll enjoy this class.

Once you will have a list of ideas and things you need to do, you will have to prioritize and communicate that. That list is called a "roadmap" and I will guide you on how to work with it.

Every change in the product must generate value - whether it's monetary, user numbers or any other metric you are pursuing. You need to understand the concept of the value and how to use it in your career. Understanding the value you generate is the key to growing your career!

Before creating a proper product, it's good to understand whether the technical premise is sound. You have to learn to walk before you can run a marathon and to do that, product wise, you can create a POC - Proof of concept.

Ok, POC tells Product Managers if their idea is technically sound. Thus, MVP - Minimum viable product, tells you the same commercially wise. Let me tell you all about it!

You now know what an MVP is and how you can use it. Now, let's look at what types of MVPs are out there and when to best use different types.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

All the chapters before were intended to help you do the core Product Manager's work the best way possible and be prepared to achieve success in your core responsibilities. Though product managers' work is mostly conceptual and analytical, at some time a handoff and cooperation with the development team will have to happen. There are several aspects of that and this chapter is fully dedicated to that.

Once you will have a list of ideas and things you need to do, you will have put it to a list called "backlog". I'll show you how to create and maintain it.

Your ideas will eventually be converted into smaller chunks, the tasks, that the development team will work on. You will learn in this class on how to create a perfect hand-off task that should leave no doubts with your team.

Bugs are a tricky subject and are often a reason the team is not too happy about their codebase or the quality they deliver. let's make sure you know how to maintain a good balance and understand when a bug must be fixed and when should it be left alone.

Bugs are not the only ways software can have bad quality in its core. It's also things like code structure, code age and many others. Maintaining them requires sometimes more work than delivering new features with often no noticeable value to the product's user. Thus, delaying such work creates what's called "a technical debt". In this class, I will tell you how to navigate the work needed to keep the product's ship afloat without pausing delivering new value to users for weeks to come.

You might be a great artist and UX expert at heart, but you have a dedicated team and people to work on this for you. In this class, I will teach you how to best work with this team and what to put emphasis on.

While there is a temptation to rush completed software to the users, the software is never really completed without though and proper testing. Thus, in this class, I will teach you what is your role in product testing and how to get the most of it.

Super short class as a prelude to the whole chapter dedicated solely to data. Just to give you a little context. No notes for this class, as it's hardly an interlude and foreshadow for classes to come.

Well, things will always take to long to develop. It's the universal law of the universe. However, in this class I will show the product managers role in, possibly, speeding things up!

Product value in an abstract term. On the opposite spectrum of the reality scale, there is "return on investment" - ROI. A figure that will help you see what contribution do you introduce to your company and how successful you and your product truly are. Very important class, pay extra attention!

You probably heard that products have a lifecycle with different actions you can take on different development stages. But is this the actual case? I have a different view on that that I share in this class.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

This video was added once the core of the course was released - I felt it was really missing.

A short chapter on key actions you need to take once your product or a change of it is released to the users.

Congrats! The fruit of many weeks and months of your work has now been released. But what to do now? Let's find out in this class.

Once the product is released your work has only just begun! Let's look at what needs your attention now!

Every person has an opinion. Your users will have opinions on your product. In this class, I will tell you how to deal with those opinions and how to convert them into the next actions!

Concluding this chapter, I would like you to point your attention to the documentation you will produce. This is an important element of your communication and a good investment in your time. Let me tell you all about it in this class.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

Finally the data chapter! Let's go through every aspect that makes a great Product Manager data-driven and look at different aspects of data, its analysis and presentation. Without further ado, let's get started!

With this short class, let's start with a good overall look at the data subject and its main aspects.

Every user action can be translated into some kind of numbers. Let's look at those numbers, the metrics, and see what can the Product Manager do with them!

Data can come from all over the place in all shapes, sizes and forms. In this class, I will help you tell the noise from the important information.

This class is a follow-up to an earlier one about user personas. This time I'm going to show you user segmentation and its purpose in a wider context.

Even if you have great data, there can be too much of it to resonate with stakeholders. In this class, I want to make sure you will be able to select the right figures for the right audience. If you are not able to convey the right information with the data, it's not useful at all.

While you need to be a data-driven product manager, there are times where there is no data to use. What to do then? Let me give you my take on this issue in this class.

In this class, we'll look at the best tool a great Product Manager can use in order to understand the impact of the changes made in the product. Let me tackle the topic of A/B testing!

Data can come in other ways than just pure numbers. In this class, I will tell you how to analyze the users' action in a more direct way.

I would like to quickly reflect on this chapter. Please download the collective PDF of all the notes from this chapter. There is also a collective PDF of all chapters at the end of the course.

You might be the greatest Product Manager of all times. However, if you are not able to present yourself as such and get hired as a Product Manager. Being good at finding a position is a different skill set than being great at product management. Thus, this chapter will teach you how to be a great candidate that can navigate any Product Manager's recruitment process.

Becoming a Product Managers is not easy, however, there are a lot of paths you can take to become one. Let me present you with the career tracks you can consider.

Before you begin your job search, you need to be prepared. Let me walk you through the actions you need to take before you can embark on your journey.

While the CV document might not be as relevant as it used to be, but you still need to have it ready. Let me provide you with a template for a great CV!

Now, let's look at the website with the potential of making your career dreams come true. Linkedin is your cloud CV, arguably more important these days (for IT professionals) than the actual CV. Let me show you how to create a great profile, so you can stand out from the crowd!

Now, you have the right mindset and a great CV and Linkedin profile. Let me present you with the options you have to find a new position and one of them might surprise you!

One thing I need to add to the previous class: If you really want to work with a specific company, the best thing to do is to check their careers page (3rd column) at least once a day for new job ads that might fit you.

Very often those pages are poorly curated and hold ads that have been there for months and have a ton of great candidates in the pipeline already. Thus, if you apply, you are likely not to hear back from them due to being late for the party. However, if you are one of the first to apply, you increase your chances of being invited to the interview significantly. As a reminder, it would be great to craft a dedicated CV for the new offer and, if needed, a custom cover letter. In fact, since you know what you are looking for, you could prepare those in advance and apply with it the moment the right ad appears.

Good luck!

Following the video, please do the following now:

• identify top job boards in your country (or country you'd like to work in),

• set accounts on 3 biggest,

• set-up job alerts for the "Product Manager" position in the location of your interest.

Next:

• Identify companies you'd like to work for and have offices compatible with the location of your choosing. With that:

• find the career pages,

• bookmark them,

• set-up calendar and/or phone alerts to remind you to check those sites regularly.

With that done, it's just a matter of time before a good job ad will appear and you can use your new, fresh CV to apply! Remember to adjust it to the ad you are applying to!

Your efforts have led to this - you have landed a job interview. Performing on those is also a separate skill and let me dive into this really long class and tell you exactly how to nail it!

The previous class tackled the general challenges of a job interview, but now let's look at typical questions you can hear on such an interview and how to best respond to them. Sometimes it's a matter of good improv, other times you can come with answers ready and well-rehearsed.

Once you are done with the job interview, there is a void between that event and the eventual (or not) feedback. This class tells you how to survive that sensitive period. Just by acting right, you may present yourself as a better candidate!

Some recruitment processes will involve more than just a series of interviews. You will have to present your style of work and demonstrate how would you solve a given task. Here's a class dedicated to those recruitment projects.

Congrats! You got the job! You are beginning your next adventure let me walk you through different periods of your new positions starting with the first week!

In this class, I will tell you how to convert your trial period into permanent employment successfully!

Your trial is over and was successful. Let me tell you what comes next and what you should focus on.

Once you reach the 1-year milestone, there are few questions you should ask yourself. What are those questions? Why ask them? I'll tell you all about it in this next class.

Your efforts and achievements are going to be frequently reviewed at a dedicated meeting. In this class, I will tell you what to expect and how to prepare for such a meeting.

Every new position that can look like a dream job initially, will eventually become just your regular job. You will feel the need to grow and evolve your role. Eventually, the feeling of a promotion need will appear. Let me guide you on how to best make it happen.

Sometimes things just don't work out. You can't find the promotion you are looking for, there isn't enough budget, the manager is terrible... Lots of things can push you to make a hard decision to change a job. In this class, I will help you reach the decision and effectively restart this section of the course so you can start a search for your next dream job. Let me teach you how to do it!

You now know everything you need to know to get hired as a Product Manager. Now, let's teach you one more thing: How to make your own Product!