Even though 2020 is now (thankfully!) behind us, there is a lot that we as Product Managers can learn from a year that changed so much, challenged so many of our beliefs, changed our ways of working, and reshaped our organizations.
Whether it is Learning to Act Like a Wartime PM, Roadmapping Remotely, or Keeping Your Customers at the Center of Everything You Do, many Product people wrote seriously inspirational blog posts last year.
Learn from their knowledge and position yourself to better react and adapt in a future that is far from predictable!
The Best Pandemic-Era Blog Posts from Product Managers
1. What 2020 Has Taught the Product World
As I’m writing this, it’s the beginning of 2021. There were certainly a lot of ups and downs last year to stay the least. Many things changed dramatically around the world.
Many businesses failed, but some startups thrived.
I’m excited to write about many of the impressive startups in China that you need to watch in 2021. These startups not only survived the pandemic but thrived in it, managing to grow incredibly quickly by meeting and exceeding customer needs.
Other Startups to Watch in 2021:
As I’m writing this, it’s almost the end of 2020. There were certainly a lot of ups and downs this year to stay the least. A LOT of things changed around the world.
Many businesses failed, but some startups thrived.
I’m excited to write about many of the incredibly impressive startups in India that you need to watch in 2021. These startups not only survived the pandemic but thrived in it, managing to grow incredibly quickly by meeting and exceeding customer needs.
Other Startups to Watch in 2021:
As I’m writing this, it’s almost the end of 2020. There were certainly a lot of ups and downs this year to stay the least. A LOT of things changed around the world.
Many businesses failed, but some startups thrived.
I’m excited to write about many of the incredibly impressive startups in Latin America that you need to watch in 2021. These startups not only survived the pandemic but thrived in it, managing to grow incredibly quickly by meeting and exceeding customer needs.
Other Startups to Watch in 2021:
As I’m writing this, it’s almost the end of 2020. There were certainly a lot of ups and downs this year to stay the least. A LOT of things changed around the world.
Many businesses failed, but some startups thrived.
I’m excited to write about many of the incredibly impressive startups in Europe that you need to watch in 2021. These startups not only survived the pandemic but thrived in it, managing to grow incredibly quickly by exceeding customer needs.
Other Startups to Watch in 2021:
It’s been a long year, to say the least. But the holidays are close and everyone’s favorite shopping holiday, Black Friday, is even closer!
Earlier this year, I shared a list of 25 Perfect Gifts for the Product Manager in Your Life and based on that post’s popularity and a few requests, I wanted to share some of the best Black Friday deals I’m seeing for Product Managers!
Please note: I’ll continue to update this post as I find new deals, not all companies have promoted their offers yet! Check back each day for updates.
Things for Product Managers
- Apple Watch Series 3 ($119 — Starts 11/25) or Series 6 ($229 — Starts 11/25): If you don’t have a smartwatch yet, you have no remaining excuses with offers like these!
- Airpods Pro ($169 — Starts 11/25): While you may sacrifice a little on your Zoom call fidelity, the all-day comfort and noise-canceling features of Airpods Pro are a PM’s dream. They are, without a doubt, my most used device. …
As I’m writing this, it’s almost the end of 2020. There were certainly a lot of ups and downs this year to stay the least. A LOT of things changed around the world.
Many businesses failed, but some startups thrived.
I’m excited to write about many of the incredibly impressive startups in Africa that you need to watch in 2021. These startups not only survived the pandemic but thrived in it, managing to grow incredibly quickly by meeting and exceeding customer needs.
Other Startups to Watch in 2021:
It’s a difficult (and crowded) job market out there…
Most weeks during the pandemic, I’ve spent between 5 and 10 hours coaching and mentoring aspiring Product Managers and Product Managers seeking their next challenge.
P.S. If you’re looking for coaching/mentorship, you can find more on offerings from The Modern Product Manager here: Coaching and Mentoring with The Modern Product Manager
Almost everyone I meet with has a compelling background, unique stories, and can almost certainly add tremendous value at the right company.
However, almost everyone is also struggling with simply standing out.
How can you possibly hope to stand out from the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of other people applying for that coveted Product Manager role? …
A/B Testing + Product Management
Product Managers develop hypotheses on an almost daily basis. It’s a critical part of the job.
They develop hypotheses about new features, changes to UX, even the specific copy that best conveys to a customer what the customer should do next.
Many times, however, especially at smaller companies or startups, these changes are simply “rolled out” or deployed to 100% of visitors/users/customers without a second thought.
However, this can result in several significant problems:
- You can never definitively measure the impact of the change.
Because many changes often happen at the same time, including changes outside of your product features and functionality (seasonality, user mix, etc.), you cannot determine the impact of one specific change without these other variables confounding your analysis. …
Over the past decade, the Product Management career has grown incredibly quickly and has become very, very popular.
In 2018 alone, job openings for Product Managers grew 30% (LinkedIn) and both Product Management and Product Development were among the most in-demand skills on LinkedIn.
But, it’s also becoming harder than ever for aspiring Product Managers to break in! Many Associate or Junior Product Manager roles either explicitly or implicitly require some Product experience.
“Wait…I need Product experience for a Junior Product role where I’m supposed to learn more about Product and build my Product skills!?”
Sounds a bit like a catch-22! …
