Product Challenge, Solution, Example, Tip; Reflecting on Experiences Teaching Product Management
Building Product Protégé has allowed me to meet incredible people and discover my passion for interacting and coaching individuals and organizations in the product management space.It's very clear to me that my favorite part of working in the educational space is interacting, meeting with, and coaching individuals and organizations. I've met folks aspiring to get into the product management space, those that are early in their careers, and also mid-career product managers who I'm excited to help as well as learn from!
On this path, I've been able to help address individual and organization's most pressing challenges and provide practical solutions. It all started with our Product Protégé Guide, which we think of it as your on-demand desk companion, and now offer our online courses and personalized coaching so we're able to help you learn however you want to! Whichever way the folks I've helped decided to learn, we are always ready to help you navigate the complexities of product management.
Let's go over some of the most common examples I've come across of challenges and the solution I provided that worked. I'll also give some tips along the way to keep this newsletter as practical as possible.
Let's jump in.
Note: I've removed the real names of individuals and companies
1. Starting Out and Understanding the Role
Challenge: Feeling overwhelmed by the vastness of product management.
Solution: The Product Protégé Guide offers a clear, structured path to mastering the basics. Learn about the core responsibilities, typical career paths, and essential skills needed to succeed.
Example: A new product manager, Jane, used our guide to understand the various stages of product development. She loved the idea of being able to zoom out and clearly see the next best step for her. By following our step-by-step framework, she quickly got up to speed and began contributing effectively to her team. She's now made it her own, customized for her organization, and she is now helping junior product managers get a solid first step.
Tip: Jane was extremely excited to have a vision and strategy that we first defined that led us to better understand our target market and the problems we could work to solve. Start by defining your product vision and understanding your target market.
2. Learning on the Job with Limited Guidance
Challenge: Gaining foundational knowledge and practical skills that are often overlooked.
Solution: Our online course and guide fills in the gaps left by on-the-job learning. Discover tactical and practical key concepts, methodologies, and tools that will make you a more effective product manager.
Example: Mike, a self-taught product manager, used our guide to learn about agile methodologies and user-centered design, which significantly improved his team's workflow and product quality. He came from an organization that did not have a product management excellence center and often found the theoretical books or books more about the author's journey to high level and not practical enough. When Mike and I discussed breaking some old habits, we reframed it as adjusting expectations and testing different approaches to see which had the most noticeable impact with his co-creators and his customers.
Tip: Focus on understanding user needs and problems and learn the best way to translate them into product features effectively for your co-creators.
3. Managers Without Product Management Background
Challenge: Leading a product team without prior experience.
Solution: Equip yourself with the necessary tools and strategies to lead a successful product team. Learn to set clear goals, manage cross-functional teams, and communicate effectively with stakeholders. Let's get everyone speaking the same language and having repeatable and similar approaches so no matter which product manager co-creators (Devs, designers, QA) interact with, they get a predictable experience.
Example: Sarah, a new product team leader from a marketing background, used our E3 Frameworks to align her team and set clear, achievable goals. To fast track, she used our templates to train her team on a repeatable approach for product requirement documentation.
Tip: To lead product managers, you need to help them be able to zoom out, see the big picture, and zoom back in to the right next step. Our E3 Framework provides this level of clarity.
4. Inconsistency in Projects
Challenge: Every project feels wildly different and unpredictable.
Solution: Discover proven, repeatable processes that bring consistency and efficiency to your projects. Frameworks can be dangerous if you follow them blindly, but they can also be extremely helpful when you are first starting out or if you just had to figure things out on your own. Use our E3 Framework to build the discipline, then customize it for your organization to get the best results.
Example: Tom's team struggled with inconsistent project outcomes. He was simply just trying to get the project across the finish line but wasn't sure what value it was actually providing. By implementing our E3 Framework, he took a moment to ensure there was an aligned and agreed upon strategy and roadmap, got feedback on his pitch decks, and then focused on high quality product requirement docs. Through this approach - they achieved more predictable and successful results.
Tip: Every project will have it's moments of uniqueness, but in general, you should be solving problems for your customers, and having a repeatable approach like our E3 Framework, will allow you to focus more on the problem and solution, instead of how to communicate the problems and solutions effectively.
5. Digital Transformation Uncertainty
Challenge: Navigating digital transformation without compromising product management best practices.
Solution: Understand the best practices for product management irrespective of the agile methodology.
Example: Lisa's company was undergoing a digital transformation. Using our guide, she ensured the new agile processes supported product management best practices, leading to smoother transitions and better product outcomes. She focused on the process for figuring out "why" we are working on certain projects, and how we would address describing "what" we wanted. Developers, designers, and the QA team loved the clarity in the epics and user stories, regardless if they used scrum, kanban or scrumban.
Tip: The themes and principles of product management are extremely important regardless of the agile methodologies to deliver capabilities.
6. How do you even use a Strategy and Vision
Challenge: Our organization has a vision and strategy, but it's collecting dust in my desk and no one ever references it. In fact, it feels odd to reference it because it is so far beyond what we can control.
Solution: Understand the importance of a clear product vision and strategy and how to use it. Our online courses cover examples and ways to practically use a strategy to ensure you are going after the right problem sets and as a way to motivate the team towards a common goal. Learn how to develop a vision that inspires and guides your team, and a strategy that outlines the steps needed to achieve your goals.
Example: Mark developed a compelling product vision after taking our course and answering the questions (with help from co-creators) to our vision/strategy questions This helped align his team and stakeholders around a shared goal.
Tip: I learn best by example, take a look at our premium vision and strategy examples from a diverse range of industries!
7. Effectively communicating your product approach.
Challenge: Emails where I communicate progress on our product our outcomes never garner any responses, or if they do, it's to clarify something I said. I don't think I'm making an impact or getting the reaction I'm looking for, and all I'm looking for is for feedback!
Solution: Including all the necessary foundational information about your product is uber important. Not only what happened with an AB test (for example) but make sure to provide the big picture, subtly ensuring to call out your strategy and roadmap if you must, to ensure everyone is on the same page.
Example: David enhanced his communication with stakeholders using our Communication templates in The Product Protégé Guide and as a downloadable template in our Enhanced Product Management online course, leading to better alignment and fewer misunderstandings.
Tip: Take the guess work out and streamline your stakeholder updates with Product Protégé.
How Product Protégé Can Help
On-Demand Resource The Product Protégé Guide is designed to be your on-demand resource. Keep it on your desk or bookmarked on your computer for quick access to essential information, templates, and best practices. Whether you're preparing for a meeting, planning a sprint, or developing a product roadmap, our guide has got you covered.
Example: Whenever John faced a new challenge, he turned to the Product Protégé Guide for immediate solutions and practical advice, saving time and improving his efficiency.
Tip: Just like our reviewers on Amazon mention, our guide is easy to flip through and find what you need in the moment.
Kickstart Your Documentation Proper documentation is crucial for successful product management. Our online templates help you create comprehensive product requirements documents that clearly communicate your vision to developers, designers, QA, and analytics teams. With these templates, you can ensure everyone is on the same page, reducing misunderstandings and improving collaboration.
Example: Emily used our Product Requirements Document (PRD) template to outline her product’s key features and goals, ensuring her team was aligned and productive from the start.
Tip: Start with our PRD template to outline your product’s key features and goals.
Become Product Protégé Certified & Gain a Competitive Edge Breaking into product management can be challenging. With the Product Protégé Online Courses, you'll have a leg up on the competition. Learn how to speak elegantly about the end-to-end process of product management, from vision and strategy to roadmap development and execution. Impress interviewers by demonstrating your deep understanding of product management and your ability to articulate a coherent strategy.
Example: During his job search, Alex used the STAR method as well as insights from our Elite online course to articulate a clear product vision and strategy in his interviews, impressing potential employers and landing his first product management job, setting himself up for a great career path!
Tip: Pair our guide with the Product Manager Interview book to prepare for interviews.
Product Protégé is a multimodal product management education platform. We provide practical and tactical product management training for new to mid-career professionals.
It teaches the essential lessons and discipline needed to build a successful product management career, with skills you can apply immediately. Whether you're looking to improve your current skills, break into the field, or lead a team through digital transformation, our guide provides the tools and knowledge you need to excel.
And we mean it when we say it... What you learn today, you can use tomorrow.
Visit productprotege.com to learn more about all of our offerings, and you can also start our online course for free!
Bonus Tip: Use the code "earlybird" at checkout to get a 20% discount on our advanced courses. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your product management skills!
