Product management, one of the rising areas of today’s business world, is an exciting and stressful responsibility with its busy pace and demanding talent requirements.
Product managers, therefore, should be well-equipped with useful skills in managing products and knowledge to become successful wherever they land.
And as a grinding PM or PM-to-be, you know that obtaining these skills and knowledge is not easy.
Finding the right resources tailored to your needs is a time-consuming activity. So to help you, I have gathered the best free and paid product management courses taught by senior product managers and available for anyone interested. Let’s take a look:
Best Paid Product Management Courses
1- Product Management Course by Product School
Product Management Course by Product School is offered on campus in 20 cities around the world with a choice of taking the classes completely online.
The course provides the participants with a rich syllabus and all the classes are instructed by successful product managers from big tech companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Spotify, UBER, Tesla, Netflix, and LinkedIn. The content of the program includes a two-month course that includes every aspect of product management and access to valuable services the Product School offers even after the course is finished.
- Price: $3999
- Duration: 8 weeks
- Online Live or In-class
- Click here to learn more about the course.
2- Product Toolkit by Product Lessons
Product Toolkit focuses on real examples and proven templates to help people do great product management work.
It covers 70 lessons, 65 examples, and 27 templates across many topics, from running brainstorms to setting goals, scoping products, leading meetings, and negotiation. The Toolkit was made by the founder of Product Lessons, Linda Zhang, who was previously a Group PM at Faire and turned down a Senior PM offer from Instagram.
- Price: $179
- Duration: 3 weeks
- Online, lifetime access
- Click here to learn more about the course.
3- “Five Steps to Build a Most Lovable Product” by Stanford Continuing Studies
Taught by Jin Zhang, an Engineering Director at Meta (formerly Facebook) this course is unbelievably well-received and practical for every product manager out there.
While there are many more useful mostly asynchronous online courses available, there are also some very effective online classes. These are like real-life classes where you actively listen to the lectures told by your Instructor, discuss with your classmates, work on projects and presentations, attend workshops by Industry Professionals and even get a letter grade 🙂
One of the best among these online Product Management Classes is the one being prepared and instructed at Stanford Continuing Studies.
The program accepts applications worldwide and participants consist of Product People coming from different backgrounds and different levels of expertise. The name of this famous course is “Five Steps to Build a Most Lovable Product: Why MVP Is No Longer Enough”.
During the course, you get the chance to understand the MVP approach in detail and start developing a new framework that is way more comprehensive in terms of the users (the people) and their needs.
The MLP approach (Most Lovable Product) helps you learn where to concentrate while you are working on a new product or a new feature that aims to solve a well-defined problem of a well-defined group of people.
Being able to work with a classroom full of students coming from different backgrounds is a great way to obtain new perspectives in your journey to become a successful product manager and the team project is a great opportunity to evaluate and apply what you have learned during the course.
As a product person looking for quality investments that will help you advance your career, the Most Lovable Product Class is one of the best courses that you can attend.
For now, there isn’t much information on a specific landing page as to how you can apply to this course, but Jin Zhang regularly shares information and developments about the course on her LinkedIn so you can connect with her and ask for more information.
4- Introduction to Product Management by Cognitir
Cognitir’s course solves the classic chicken and egg problem in product management recruiting:
The problem is companies want to hire experienced product managers, and aspiring product managers need experience to be hired.
How does Cognitir’s course solve this problem? 🤔
Because students build actual products in the course which can be showcased to potential employers to help win PM interviews.
Going beyond theory, and providing the course attendees with practice and actual products that they’ve created is innovative, and a much-needed approach to digital education.
The course excellently balances hands-on exercises with lectures to teach fundamental product management concepts in a short amount of time.
And, in my opinion, compared to the courses that offer similar content and value, Cognitir’s course has a huge ROI with $49/month and unlimited access to all content related to product management and all the practices.
- Price: $49/month
- Duration: ~12 hours
- Online
- Click here to learn more about the course.
5- Product Management First Steps by LinkedIn Learning
This course within the LinkedIn Learning system offered by LinkedIn, a popular business networking website, is provided by the former Principal Product Manager of Adobe.
The course includes the six-stage process from the initial period of a product to the launch of the product. It is a useful course to provide a strong basis for product management but a basis is all this course will establish for you.
- Price: $ 29.99
- Duration: 1 hour and 51 minutes
- Online
- Click here to access the course.
6- Online Product Management Course by General Assembly
This course by General Assembly has one purpose:
Getting you ready to be a real product manager.
It covers a lot of ground and claims to provide you with the skills and knowledge necessary to bring your products and features to success.
Although the price might be scary at first, for serious product managers looking to get educated by a product expert, this course is a must and definitely returns the investment.
- Price: $3950, divided payments available
- Duration: Long, varies
- Online
- Click here to learn more about the courses.
7- UX Design for Product Managers and Fundamentals of Product Management by Stanford University
These courses offered by Stanford, a highly renowned university, are competent to provide a foundation for almost every aspect of product management. Courses are offered by professional product managers and their aim is to strengthen the knowledge by providing an interactive environment with trainers and other students.
- Price: $ 605
- Duration: 10 weeks
- In-class
- Click here to learn more about the courses.
8- Become a Product Manager – Learn the Skills and Get the Job on Udemy
Become a Product Manager is especially suitable for beginners with 16 hours of the best content you can find.
This course available on Udemy is an online training that provides knowledge on what the role of a product manager in different companies operating in different industries is and how to manage products according to product groups and product development process.
- Price: 194.99 EUR
- Duration: 10 weeks
- Online
- Click here to access the course.
9- Product Management A-Z: Excel as a PM & Build Great Products on Udemy
This online course also available on Udemy provides product management training through the existing examples, allowing participants to practice on one-to-one live samples. Once you are accepted into the course, you will have the opportunity to attend this course again throughout your life which with the value it offers, will be a source you will get back to every time you need guidance.
- Price: 24.99 EUR
- Duration: 5 weeks
- Online
- Click here to access the course.
10- Learn Product Management by One Month
This training course focuses on the product development process and shows all the details of the process to the participants.
It also provides training content on developing the skills that a product manager should have.
- Price: $ 199
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Online
- Click here to access the course.
11- Product Marketing Courses by Pragmatic Institute
The four-course Certified Product Manager track from Pragmatic Institute is the de facto standard in the product management world.
Pragmatic’s product management Frameworklays out the essential activities product managers need to build products people want to buy. Each course focuses on a specific subset of the Framework and can be taken in any order after theFoundationscourse to meet your specific needs.
All ofPragmatic’s product management and product marketingcourses come with a certification that is sought over the world over.
Pragmatic has issued over200,000 certifications worldwide, and their certifications have been named one of the 7 hottest certifications by CIO Magazine. Certification comes with access to Pragmatic’s award-winning alumni community, resources, mentoring, and more to help ensure success after completion.
- Price: $1,195/course; 4 courses in Product Manager Certification track; 8 courses total
- Duration: 7 hours per course
- Live Online and On-Demand
- Product Management Certification by Pragmatic Institute
Best Free Product Management Courses
12- Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals by the University of Virginia on Coursera
Digital Product Management: Modern Fundamentals discusses why the old ways of product management are not viable anymore and explain the modern fundamentals of product management.
According to the course, the product manager of the digital era should be able to explore new ideas and design and manage products actively, and how one can do it is the full content of the course.
- Free
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Online
- Click here to access the course.
13- Product Design on Udacity
This free course by Udacity provides participants with information on how they can create a product out of an idea they have, and how they can design this product. With useful classes on UX/UI design, the course offers a valid foundation for everyone interested in product design.
- Free
- Duration: 8 weeks
- Online
- Click here to access the course.
Aside from these valuable courses that offer hours of training content on product management, you can listen to various podcasts about product management, marketing, growth, and start-ups. Check out our article 13 Best Podcasts About Startups and Growth.
14- Google’s APM Program
Although this should be counted as more of an internship opportunity than a course, it would provide more than enough information and real-life experience to surpass any course we’ve mentioned.
So Google’s Associate Product Manager Program is included here.
Google’s APM is a great full-time/internship opportunity for those new to product management. I believe it is definitely worth checking out for North American product people out there, it might be your lucky day!
Click here for more details on the program.
Conclusion
Whether you aspire to be one of the best product managers in the world or just looking to land a PM job at a solid company, the road to success for both objectives go through self-improvement.
Wondering what’s next for a PM-to-be? Here are the best tools a product manager can and SHOULD use.
If you like this article, you can also readProduct Marketing vs. Product Management.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is product management?
Product management refers to designing and building products while organizing the teams that contribute to this process.
How can I become a product manager?
Product management requires lots of different skills. Going through a quality product management course will help you achieve these and become a PM.
What skills are required for product management?
Business and economics competencies, analytical, organizational, time management, and prioritization skills are essential for a product manager.
FAQs
Which course is best for product manager? ›
Product managers usually have a degree in technical fields such as engineering and computer sciences, an MBA and a complementary certification within product management. One can also target a product management job through non-tech areas by networking within the firms seeking their expertise.
Does Google have a product management course? ›Google's APM Program
Grow personally and professionally through mentorship, global experience, and hands-on learning. Join a vast community of APMs, many of whom have led Google's most successful projects.
Product Manager salary in India ranges between ₹ 5.1 Lakhs to ₹ 35.0 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 17.0 Lakhs. Salary estimates are based on 34.9k latest salaries received from Product Managers.
What is the highest paying product manager salary? ›The highest paying company for a Product Manager is Google with an average total compensation of $375,000.
What is the best product manager salary? ›Salary Ranges for Product Managers
The middle 57% of Product Managers makes between $111,000 and $242,000, with the top 86% making $525,000.
The four Ps are product, price, place, and promotion.
What are the 5 Ps of product management? ›The 5 P's of marketing – Product, Price, Promotion, Place, and People – are a framework that helps guide marketing strategies and keep marketers focused on the right things. Let's take a deep dive into their importance for your brand.
What are the 6 Ps of product management? ›The building blocks of an effective marketing strategy include the 6 P's of marketing: product, price, place, promotion, people, and presentation.
What is the salary of Product Manager in Google USA? ›The highest paying salary package reported for a Product Manager at Google sits at a yearly total compensation of $682,000. This includes base salary as well as any potential stock compensation and bonuses. The median yearly total compensation reported at Google for the Product Manager role is $420,000.
Is Google PMP recognized? ›The Google Project Management Certificate is accredited by the Project Management Institute (PMI), a global nonprofit organization that provides globally recognized standards and certifications for the project management profession.
What are the best product management courses online? ›
- Udacity. Become a Product Manager Nanodegree.
- Udemy. Product Management 101.
- Udemy. Become a Product Manager – Learn the Skills and Get the Job.
- Udemy. The Complete Product Management Course.
- Udemy. Master the Product Manager Interview – The Complete Guide.
- Udemy. ...
- Coursera. ...
- Coursera.
Industry. Some fast growing industries, especially those depending upon technology, have a higher demand for product managers, thus are more likely to pay higher salaries to feed such demand.
Which MBA is good for product manager? ›MBA Operations Management
In-depth MBAs with experience in both fields are in high demand in the business world, which is why this cross-functional major was created. Graduates of this major are better equipped to handle issues in their future careers that lie at the nexus of these two disciplines.
In most organizations, the product manager is considered to be higher in the hierarchy than the project manager. The product manager is responsible for the overall strategy, vision, and success of a product or product line; the project manager is responsible for the planning and execution of a specific project.
Can Product Manager make millions? ›Product management is a well-paid job and has a high level of job satisfaction. The product manager's salary is primarily based on years of experience, job location and skills. The average annual salary for product managers can range from $61,000 to $200,000 per year.
Is product management stressful? ›The day-to-day responsibilities of a product manager can be taxing, stressful, and all-consuming. Sometimes you don't think you have time to stop, take a breath, and take stock of your career.
How do I become a Google Product Manager? ›- A Bachelor's Degree or Practical Experience.
- Experience Managing Technical Products.
- A Level of Familiarity with Different Areas.
- A Diverse Skillset.
Who earns more: product manager or project manager? Generally, product managers make more than project managers in the US. The average product manager's salary in the US is $111,755 a year, while a project manager in the US makes an average salary of $87,637, according to August 2021 data from Glassdoor.
Do product managers get paid more than product owners? ›Average: As per August 2021 research data from Glassdoor, the average annual compensation for a Product Manager in the United States is around $111,775, and that of a Product Owner is $87,637.
What is the 3 C's framework? ›This method has you focusing your analysis on the 3C's or strategic triangle: the customers, the competitors and the corporation. By analyzing these three elements, you will be able to find the key success factor (KSF) and create a viable marketing strategy.
What are the 3 C's of brand positioning? ›
The 3 Cs of Brand Development: Customer, Company, and Competitors.
What are the 3 C's of competitive advantage? ›The model integrates three critical elements, the 3Cs, on which, he argues, any effective business strategy should be based: The Customer. The Corporation. The Competitors.
What are the 7 stages of product management? ›- Step 1: Ideation. Ideation is the first stage of the product development life cycle. ...
- Step 2: Validation. ...
- Step 3: Prototyping. ...
- Step 4: Marketing. ...
- Step 5: Development. ...
- Step 6: Launch. ...
- Step 7: Improvement.
5W's is an acronym that stands for Who, What, Where, When, Why; some authors add a sixth question, how, to the list. The 5 W's is an analysis method, composed of several stages that question the fundamental characteristics of a situation.
What are the 7 marketing strategies? ›The 7Ps of marketing are – product, pricing, place, promotion, physical evidence, people, and processes. The 7 Ps make up the necessary marketing mix that a business must have to advertise a product or service.
What is bad product management? ›A bad product manager often doesn't have a good relationship with their customers. They don't understand their needs and wants and often ignore their feedback. This can lead to a disconnect between the product and the customer, which can hurt sales and brand reputation.
What do the 7 P's include? ›Since then, the theory has been expanded into the 7 P's of marketing. Which are: Product, Price, Promotion, Place, People, Packaging, and Process.
How much does a Google L7 PM make? ›Google L7 Technical Program Manager Salary in United States | $354K-$663K+ | Levels.
What is the highest-paying job in Google USA? ›- Research Scientist is the highest-paying job at Google with an average salary of $167,427 and an average hourly rate of $80.49.
- The second highest-paying job at Google is information technology project manager, with an average salary of $153,565.
Google L6 Program Manager Salary in United States | $319K-$405K+ | Levels.
What is better than PMP? ›
However, if you don't have enough experience and education to qualify for the PMP, the PMI-RMP or PMI-SP may be an option. Both of these certifications require fewer months of project management experience than the PMP. If you are interested in business analysis, the PMI-PBA might be a better bet for you.
Is PMP still in demand? ›Is PMP still in demand? Yes, PMP is highly sought after across industries. Wherever there are projects, there is a need for qualified and skilled project management professionals.
Is Google PM certification worth it? ›It's good value. There is a lot of content covered. You don't need any prior experience. You work through scenarios and case studies in the course, including in the Capstone, so you get to put your skills into practice (even though it's not a 'real' project).
Where can I learn product management skills? ›Take online product management courses at sites like Udemy and Lynda.com.
Do product managers need to code? ›And this is the reason why so many aspiring product managers ask the question and get confused. However, the answer is simple. Product managers don't need to know how to code. They can still do their job well.
Where can I learn product management online? ›- Digital Product Management: University of Virginia.
- Google Project Management:: Google.
- Software Product Management: University of Alberta.
- Product Management Essentials: University of Maryland, College Park.
- AI Product Management: Duke University.
Can You Transition from UX to Product Management? In a nutshell, yes, you can transition from being a UX designer to product management if you are prepared, have the right mindset and are willing to develop the right skills for the job. Many UX designers try to swap out their UX hat for a PM position instead.
Is product manager a high demand job? ›One of the reasons for both the high demand and high salaries Product Managers enjoy is that the combination of hard and soft skills makes it especially hard to find candidates that are a good fit.
Are product managers in high demand? ›Is There a Demand for Product Managers? Yes, there is. But in order to understand why product management is becoming more popular on job listings, we should understand the change in growth strategies of companies first. Companies employ various strategies to increase their sell rates and revenues.
Which MBA has highest salary? ›Which MBA Has the Highest Salary? Three of the most paid MBA specialisations include- MBA in Business Analytics, MBA in Finance and MBA in Entrepreneurship. The salaries for each of these disciplines broadly lie in the range of 70,000 USD to 90,000 USD or 60,00,000 INR to 90,00,000 INR per annum.
How much does Microsoft pay MBA Product Manager? ›
The median yearly total compensation reported at Microsoft for the Product Manager role is $250,451.
Who earns more product manager or UX designer? ›On average, a product designer gets an average salary of $88,805 per year, while for a UX designer, the average per year salary is $100,080. In product manager vs UX designer salary, the former has an average salary of $102,468 per year, which is quite low compared to the latter but still a rewarding one.
Who earns more UX or product designer? ›According to various salary aggregate websites, product designers tend to have slightly higher average salaries than UX designers in the US.
Can I start my career as a product manager? ›In other words, it's possible to become a Product Manager, even if you don't have any work experience in product management yet. The key to making that transition is to grow your soft skills while working in another field, then to acquire the specific technical skills a Product Manager needs.
Who is higher than a Product Manager? ›However, in a large organization, a chief product officer is the most senior product expert responsible for the product teams, processes, and delivery of tasks. They manage multiple product managers and oversee product strategy, product architecture, and end-to-end product execution.
Why do product managers quit? ›Lack of opportunity—There aren't too many product managers content to do their existing job forever; they're looking for chances to advance, take on more responsibility, and expand their skill set.
How many hours do product managers work? ›Product managers work full time, usually more than 40 hours per week. They often work longer hours that extend into evenings and weekends, particularly when there are deadlines approaching. They spend time on computers, conducting research, and reading and writing reports.
Do you need coding for product management? ›And this is the reason why so many aspiring product managers ask the question and get confused. However, the answer is simple. Product managers don't need to know how to code. They can still do their job well.