PM Starter Pack, Onfielder

Это конспект небольшой методички “PM Starter Pack: How to get started in product management” от компании Onfielder.

Этот небольшой гайд запустился на Product Hunt в мае 2019 года и ссылку на него можно было увидеть во многих околопродуктовых каналах и рассылках.

К сожалению именно practical этот гайд назвать можно с трудом. Внутри достаточно общие и абстрактные истории. Вместо конкретики в большинстве ситуаций подборки ссылок на статьи. Ryan Hover в комментарии на странице гайда на PH просто написал, что советует начинающим продактам копать свои сайд проекты, и он прав.

Так что рекомендую только действительно начинающим ребятам для расширения кругозора.

Getting Started

Setting the Stage

• There is no one size fits all.
• Product management is mostly experiential.
• It is better to clear the minimum bar in generalist skills and double down in a certain product capability than the other way around.
• Product management is a diverse craft; people come to it from a multitude of different paths.

The Strategy

1. Clear the minimum level for generalist skills
2. Get well-rounded in all product capabilities
3. Find at least one product capability that you can be excellent in and double down

Because product is experiential and company-specific, you’re going to learn the most on the job.

Generalist Skills

As a PM, your job is to clearly articulate what a product is - if you cannot communicate this to those who actually build it, then it’s not going to work.

The bare minimum level of competency is somewhere around “relative hobbyist”.

• Technology: understanding of how the technology works and is built
• Analytics: understanding of how to analyze data and quantify impact
• UX: understanding of how to design for user-focused experiences
• Operations: understanding of how to implement processes and organize resources
• Strategy: understanding of how to structure decisions to achieve a goal

Product Capabilities

• Product Thinking: the ability to discover and solve for a problem that delivers value‍
• Communication: the ability to clearly articulate reasoning, definition, and progress‍
• Influence & Leadership: the ability to lead through influence to deliver results‍
• Judgement: the ability to make sound decisions in challenging environments‍
• Deliver Results: the ability to get results

The Action Plan

• Understand the role
• Get the generalist skills you’re missing
• Eliminate weaknesses
• Double down on a key strength
• Create proof
• Get feedback
• Get on the market

Understanding the Role

About the Job

• What is a PM
• What does a PM do every day
• Good PM, Bad PM
• Product vs. Project Manager
• PM Principles‍

Finding Your Niche

• Types by Skill Orientation
• Types by Company
• Types by Problem Space
• Types by Background‍

Technology

The Basics

• Web app architecture basics
• Web vs. native app
• How the internet works

Learn with Tools

• Front end basics: Build yourself a basic portfolio site using Webflow.
• Displaying data: Build yourself a small data app using Airtable and Table2Site.
• Back end basics: Try allowing for automatic submissions to your data app by creating a Google Form for new requests and automatically updating your app to include it using Zapier.

Do Some Programming

• Do some examples: try a few rounds on freecodecamp.org.
• Call an API: open up your terminal and try calling an API.
• Use an API: Try posting a new record to your data app using the Airtable API and repl.it.

Further Learning

• Databases and SQL: learn how databases work and how to query them
• APIs: learn how APIs work and how to call them
• Tracking: learn how user tracking works and try implementing Google Analytics
• Machine Learning: what is machine learning and how it can be used
• Talk to engineers! Ask them to explain how things work.

Analytics

Frameworks

Frameworks are structured processes for how to measure the performance of a given product behavior.

• AARRR: metric framework for evaluating product performance through the user lifecycle
• HEART: metric framework for evaluating UX experience
• Funnel analysis: analysis framework for evaluating performance through a funnel
• Cohort analysis: analysis framework to evaluating performance across cohorts
• A/B Testing: testing framework to determine launch rollout

Common Metrics

• SaaS metrics: these metrics are commonly used in enterprise apps
• Engagement metrics: these metrics are commonly used in consumer apps
• Return on Investment: this type of metric is commonly used in prioritization and making trade-offs

Further Learning

• Lean Analytics Book
• Intro to SQL
• PM Metrics Interview Questions

UX

The Basics

• Design deliverables
• The design process
• User research
• Responsive web design

Wireframing

• Wireframing for Newbies
• Try wireframing a small idea with Whimsical or Balsamiq

Operations

Agile Concepts

• Agile development process
• Managing sprints
• Sprint planning
• Managing backlog
• Tech Debt
• PRDs

Common Tools

• JIRA
• Asana
• Trello

Strategy

Frameworks

• 4Ps of Marketing
• Porter’s 5 Forces
• Build vs. Buy
• OKR

Concepts

• Marginal Cost
• Product Lifecycle
• Competitive Advantage
• Economies of Scale
• Network Effects

Further Learning

• Stratechery: a commonly loved tech strategy blog
• Innovator’s Dilemma: a classic on tech innovation strategy
• Zero to One: a Silicon Valley favorite in startup strategy

Refining Product Capabilities

Product Capabilities

Product Thinking: the ability to discover and solve for a problem that delivers value

• User value: discover, define, and analyze products that deliver user value
• Business value: discover, define, and analyze products that deliver business value

Communication: the ability to clearly articulate reasoning, definition, and progress

• Up and out: communicate upwards in a chain of command and outwardly towards users
• In and across: communicate within the development team and across the organization

Influence & Leadership: the ability to lead through influence to deliver results

• Development team: lead the product direction of the development team
• Organization: leverage influence across the organization to get resources

Judgement: the ability to make sound decisions in challenging environments

• Prioritization: made trade-offs to determine what to do and what not to do
• Ambiguity: make decisions with limited information and varying risks

Deliver Results: the ability to get results

• Effectiveness: drive efficiency in a team or process
• Outcomes: deliver meaningful outcomes

Bringing Weaknesses Up to Par

• Product thinking: try coming up with a tool, a dashboard, or a process to improve something important for your team
• Communication: try sending out updates about your new tool and getting feedback on how it was perceived
• Influence: try getting another team to test the new tool for you
• Judgement: try getting some feedback on the tool and prioritize what improvements to add
• Results: set a goal for team adoption of your tool and try to hit it

Identifying a Strength

One of the biggest hurdles is figuring out how to get better at something you’re good at. One of the best ways to do this is to try to explain it to someone else who isn’t as good.

What Won’t Work

Being a rockstar at one thing, but having serious weaknesses is not going to work.

Get Virtual Mentors (on Twitter)

Showing Proof

Create a Portfolio

• Tell a Story.
• Showcase Capabilities

Finding Projects

• Reach out to non-profits
• Reach out to small businesses
• Offer to help entrepreneurs on a side project

Get User Feedback

Get Product Manager Feedback

Get on the Market

Focus on Your Niche

Prep Your Resume

Write your bullet points using the STAR method and take extra care to highlight how you expressed a product capability.

Write Cover Letters for High Fit Positions

Track Your Progress

Iterate, Iterate, Iterate