Many people who don't know the product manager think that the product manager is cool, the entry threshold is low and the income is not bad, so they all want to be product managers. In fact, understanding the real meaning behind the product manager is not what you think. Product managers may be difficult to do, and they need strong personal ability and Luo Ji's thinking ability to go far on this road. So why ask yourself if you are interested enough? Whether it is really suitable for this position.
So how to deeply understand the position of product manager and how to cultivate your overall view of products? I can try to start from the following three aspects, which are also some experiences I summed up during my internship:
First, if you don't know anything about products and want to get started quickly, you can sign up for some training courses for product managers. Now there are many mature product manager training institutions, such as the online "steamed bread micro-course". This course will give you a comprehensive understanding of product positioning, and you will know many tools and methods of product work, which is also very helpful for job interviews.
Second, read books related to products. Personally, books will always be one of the most direct and effective media for our structured learning or understanding of a certain field. In recent years, there are more and more books related to products. Some of these books are considered by many people to be required reading books for product managers, such as Revelation, Network, Everyone is a Product Manager and so on.
Subscribe to websites related to viewing product information. There are abundant learning resources about product managers on the Internet. You can form the habit of subscribing, watching and thinking, and you can constantly cultivate your sense of products in the subconscious. For example, there are many dry goods questions and answers under the topic of "Zhihu" product manager. For example, many articles under the vertical community of products such as Everyone is a Product Manager can broaden our thinking.
Watch product launches and interviews. I like to watch the product launch of mobile phones or software, not only because I am interested in electronic devices, but also because I can learn the stories behind many products and the product values of these mature enterprises. At the same time, I also like to watch the dialogues and interviews of relevant product leaders, and I can also learn a lot from my predecessors.
Third, the use of product tools.
As the saying goes, "if a worker wants to do a good job, he must sharpen his tools first." As a product manager, the same is true. Mastering and using software related to product work is one of the basic skills necessary for an excellent product manager. In our daily work, it can not only help us focus on the core work such as product architecture design, but also waste our energy on debugging tools. At the same time, it can greatly improve the quality of our PRD and other data output and greatly promote the efficiency of communication and cooperation among team members.
What softwares do product managers often use and how do they learn to use them?
Axure:Axure, as a professional rapid prototyping tool, is one of the most commonly used softwares for product managers, which helps us to quickly create wireframes, flowcharts, prototypes and other contents of products. It is also very simple to learn. First, understand the functional layout of the software as a whole, and then practice with cases, and you will soon master the basic functions. There are many books and website materials related to Axure, and you can also refer to an article I wrote before-how to quickly make an interactive prototype of an APP with Axure.
Office: As the most famous office software, several models are commonly used by product managers. Word is generally used to write product requirements documents, excel can be used for data analysis, ppt is often used for project communication, and visio is very practical when drawing product flow charts. These softwares are not difficult to learn. Online learning platforms such as Netease Cloud Classroom also have many related courses. I also paid for several courses during my study, which is very helpful to master the skills of using software.
Mind mapping: Product managers should also learn to use mind mapping tools, such as mindmanager, which can help us think about product structure and other issues in a structured way. For example, before writing this article, I will sort out the structure of the whole article and the content of each part through the mind map, instead of losing my temper and doing the same thing.
These are just some representative softwares, and there are many softwares with similar functions. You can gradually understand their advantages and disadvantages in order to better use them for yourself. Of course, as a product, don't forget the most convenient tools at any time, that is, the paper and pen in your hand.