ProductCamp Boston is the world's largest and most exciting crowd-sourced one-day event for product people. It's organized by and for product managers, product marketers and entrepreneurs, so attendees get the most out of the day. Attendees learn about and discuss topics in product management and product marketing, product discovery, product development & design, go-to-market, product strategy and lifecycle management, and product management 101, startups, and career development. www.ProductCampBoston.org

1. Global Study Conducted by 280 Group
Build Your Career
What Skills Do I Need to
Really Succeed as a PM?
Mira Wooten
Director of Solutions
280 Group

2. © 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Agenda
 Quick Overview of the Benchmark
 Understanding the Key Skills of a PM
 Early Career Skills
 Mid-Career Skills
 Becoming a PM leader
 Take the assessment
 You could win!

3. The PM Skills Benchmark Report
1,682
Responses
51%
International
20+
Industries
400+
Executives
1-20+
Years
PM
Professionals
Global
Results
Broad
Perspectives
Leaders and
Individuals
Range of
Experience
 6 Key Findings
 9 Actionable Insights
 16 Detailed Findings
– Key PM Skills
– Training & Process
– Career Growth Paths
Product Management teams experience up
to a 44% improvement in skill sets with
training and an established formal process
PMs who have received formal training
have a stronger skill set by 11% on average
and by as much as 17% in multiple skill sets

4. Significant Interest in the Career
Over 25% of all respondents are
interested in pursuing a Product
Management Career
Non-PM Titles and
Incomplete Responses
Qualified Responses

5. Self-Ranking: Biases & Mitigations
 Results
– PMs seem to score
themselves honestly
– Good distribution of average
scores ranging from 5.02 to
7.97
Skill
Level
Meaning
1 I don’t know what this is
3 I am just starting to apply
this skill
5 I am using this skill, but
have more to learn
7 I am confident in my
abilities to use this skill
10 I could teach others how to
use this skill effectively
Source: https://www.sketchplanations.com/post/105077817994/the-lake-wobegon-effect-where-all-the-children

6. What Are Product Management
Skills?
© 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.

7. The 15 Skill Sets of a Product Manager
Hard Skills Soft Skills
Strategy Communication
Business Skills Customer Knowledge
PM Process Domain Knowledge
Market Research Leadership
Competitive Analysis Management
Pricing
Forecasting
Requirements
Marketing & Launch
End of Life

8. Hard Skills
Hard skills are needed to understand the customer,
the market, and the competition and then develop a
product strategy and roadmap to deliver
Hard Skills
Strategy
Business Skills
PM Process
Market Research
Competitive
Analysis
Pricing
Forecasting
Requirements
Marketing & Launch
End of Life

9. Soft and Leadership Skills
 Knowing what to build and how to market it is only half
the battle
 You must also be able to communicate and lead cross-
functionally
Communication
Domain
Knowledge
Management
Customer
Knowledge
Leadership

10. © 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Benchmark: Average Skill Results
8. Domain Knowledge
11. Customer Understanding
13. Communication
4. Pricing
3. Competitive Analysis
6. End of Life

11. Early Career
PM Skills
© 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.

12. Where Do I Focus?

13. How Do I Improve?
 Prioritize improving your weaker skills
– Training
– Self-study
– Online learning
 Leverage your strengths – train others!
 Find mentors
 Pursue certification

14. Mid-Career
PM Skills
© 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.

15. Where Do I Focus?

16. How Do I Improve?
 Business Skills
– Understand your customer’s problems
– Understand your company’s business goals
 Forecasting: learn your market & work with
an expert
 Competitive Analysis: learn the 9
dimensions of analysis
 Pricing: Pinpoint real sources of value &
work with an expert
 End of Life: Think of it as a launch in reverse 280.gr/pm-strategies

17. Becoming a PM Leader

18. Becoming a Manager or Director
The five skill sets that increase the most when comparing PM
Managers to PM Directors

19. Top Director Skill Sets
The five strongest skill sets of Product Management Directors

20. Becoming a Vice President
The five skill sets that increase the most when comparing PM
Managers to PM VPs

21. VP Top Skill Sets
The five strongest skill sets of Product Management VPs

22. How Do I Get There?
 Make improvements in the top Director/VP skill sets
– Strategy
– Pricing
– Business skills
– Competitive Analysis
– Marketing & Launch
 Encompass the leadership skills
– Communication
– Leadership
– Management 280.gr/pm-strategies

23. Training and Process
© 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.

24. Training Improves Skills
Over 50%
PM LEADERS
HAVE TRAINING

25. © 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Process Improves
Skills Even More!

26. © 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Training and Process
16-44%
IMPROVEMENT
WITH TRAINING
AND PROCESS

27. Improving Your Team
 Improve Product Management process
 Assess your team’s needs
 Transform your PM team with 280 Group
Optimization Program
 Develop a customized training program
 Make certification a goal for every PM

28. Next Steps In Your Career
© 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.

29. Take The Next Steps
 Identify your own gaps – take the Assessment
 Read your Personal Report
 Identify areas of strength and improvement
 Build an action plan to improve
– Find a training course
– Help improve PM processes
– Find a mentor
– Establish a habit of learning
280.gr/skills

30. © 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Want To Learn More?
 Download the full report
 Get access to insights to improve your
and your team’s skills
280.gr/benchmark

31. © 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.
Become a Certified Product Manager
 Learn Core Skills
– Become more effective, gain credibility, and enjoy your work
more with our training
 Get Certified
– Prove your mastery and advance your career by earning a
worldwide-standard Product Management certification
 Be Great At What You Do
– Use your new skills, confidence, and credibility to deliver great
results in record time

32. In-Person Training
Pick One of Our
Training Locations
Atlanta
Austin
Boston
Chicago
London
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
San Jose
Seattle
Toronto
Our Courses
Online Training
Study Your Way
Study at your own pace
from anywhere in the
world by taking the
online version of this
course.
NEW: Enhance with
our Virtual Instructor
Review to gain the help
of an expert instructor
over eight weeks.
Private Training
Customized For You
We offer private
custom training at
client locations
worldwide for teams of
5 or more.
Solve your biggest
challenges now with a
custom-tailored course
delivered on-site.

33. YOU COULD WIN
 Two ways to enter
– Sign up at our sponsor table
– Enter online:
 Contest entries accepted until 3:45 PM
 Winners will be announced at wrap up
1st Certified Product Manager - Virtual Instructor Review - $2,495 Value
2nd Product Management Office Professional - $399 Value
3rd Product Management for Dummies - $19.95 Value
280.gr/pcb-win

34. THANK YOU
Mira Wooten
Director of Solutions
280 Group
© 2019 280 Group LLC, All Rights Reserved.