How to Web Institute — Product Management Fundamentals course review
Every year I plan on taking at least one course or certification. However, I believe that the key to professional improvement is investing in yourself and getting accustomed to your field's latest best practices and tools. This year, I am focusing on my product-related skills as I want to step up my game in this field.
After careful consideration, I started with the Product Management fundamentals course from How to Web Institute.
For those unfamiliar with How to Web, this is the largest tech conference in Eastern Europe, and, starting last year, they launched the How to Web Institute, which focuses on training future product management leaders.
Reasons for which I chose this course
Initially, I wanted to get a certification in this field. Having worked for over six years in doing this, I decided that a formal course in this field would help me put together theory and practice.
When I took the decision, I looked at the following courses:
My criteria for choosing a product manager course have been:
World-class product management instructors
Live classes
A small number of attendees.
Course details and instructors
The course spans over six weeks, focusing on multiple aspects of product management. There are 1–2 lectures per week spanning from 1 to 3 hours each. Additionally, 4–8 hours per week are needed for assignments, so you should put some time aside to dedicate. It is worth it!
The course structure is split into two main sections:
Product discovery. This part focuses on the product vision, primary purpose, and the key problems your product solves.
Product delivery. This course segment focuses on aligning all essential elements with building and monitoring the product you have been working on. The main topics are OKRs, roadmaps, and metrics.
The instructors are world-class practitioners in their field, and I have admired them for a while now. They have created frameworks, published reference books, or helped shape products we use daily. They are:
Bob Moesta. Bob is a co-author of the Jobs to be done theory. He discussed customer interviews and how to listen more to your customers to discover pain points and uncover innovative solutions to their problems.
Ash Maurya. Ash is the creator of the Lean Canvas, one of the most efficient ways to define and tackle customer problems. Together with him, we worked on the product pitch and the lean canvas for our projects.
Bruce McCarthy focused on OKRs and Product Roadmaps. I have to say he was one of my favorite trainers. I liked his practical approach and how we worked in teams to define the different types of roadmaps based on our OKRs.
Matt Lerner focused on the metrics needed to monitor your product. What I liked most was that he gave us a practical approach to measuring our product's metrics. It was the most complex part of the course, in my opinion, but I loved it!
My key takeaways
I felt that the course evolved naturally from defining an idea to getting down to numbers to develop and grow your product. The whole course walked the students through the necessary steps to understand the critical components of a Product Manager's job and apply them.
My key takeaways as a Product Manager from this course:
Focus on substance more than form. Fewer features built better will always trump a broad offering.
Talk to your customers. Even if you think a new product or feature will make them happy, you might find out that it does the contrary.
Roadmaps are living organisms. It's normal to change them. Also, you don't need to set exact dates for goals in the far future. As you prioritize, set the dates for the next quarter, and that should be clear for your team to follow.
Set clear, attainable objectives and measure their success. You should plan quarterly and readapt.
Communicate with everyone in your startup and set common metrics. Everyone must be on the same page and move in the same direction for you to succeed.
I hope this article clarifies how the HTW Institute course has been for me and helps you make an informed choice for your professional development as a Product Manager. I am only an email away for any questions regarding the course.
PS: Here is my certificate from the course :)
