Business photo created by pressfoto -www.freepik.com
At expertlead we work with many different tech specialists, including Project Managers, Product Managers and Product Owners. We believe that real-world experience is crucially important for developing throughout a career in addition to gaining knowledge of how different teams work together on projects in various fields. However, not every type of skill can be learned on the job. Thus, sometimes additional training may be required.
This blog post aims to provide you with a list of online Training Courses for Product Managers we find interesting and worth having a look at, so that you don’t have to do extensive research on your own. If not now, then when is the time to start learning something completely new, hone or refresh already awesome Product Management skills? Or maybe you just want to change focus from classic topics towards rising trends by acquiring additional qualifications.
However, before we jump on the plethora of learning opportunities, let us briefly stress why it’s important to keep learning and what skills are required for specialists in this field. Product Management has proven to be quite a challenging field due to the many diverse issues experts may need to cover (such as specific topic areas like skills and tools), or at least be aware of. However, due to the versatility of the Product Manager role it is also very interesting and challenging on a daily basis. As for many professionals who interact with diverse stakeholders, soft skills, such as communication and organization are critical to success as a Product Manager. However the hard skills are just as important, particularly due to the fast pace tech is evolving. Therefore, up to date technical expertise, knowledge of UX Design and other competitors on the market are among Product Managers strengths nowadays.
It doesn’t matter if you have already been working in this field for many years or came into the role recently: the following courses are focused on the IT area and are covering many levels of professional experience. Since it’s not an easy task to identify the Product Management course that best meets your personal needs, we hope that the diversity offered in the list below will help everyone find a valuable piece:
Those courses marked under “TOP” are those that were highlighted many times by different experts and in various sources.
1. Coursera
Coursera is a leading online learning platform for higher education, where 66 million learners from around the world come to learn skills of the future. More than 200 of the world’s top universities and industry educators partner with Coursera to offer courses, specializations, certificates, and degree programs.
TOP:
Description: This course will help you along your learning journey and prepare you with the skills and perspective you need to: Create the actionable focus to successfully manage your product (week 1); Focus your work using modern product management methods (week 2); Manage new products and explore new product ideas (week 3); Manage and amplify existing products (week 4).
For whom: This course is ideal for current product or general managers interested in today's modern product management methods. Beginner level: Some familiarity with software development and product management is helpful, but not required.
Duration: Approx. 11 hours to complete / Suggested 2-3 hours per week.
Price: Enroll for free. Verified Certificate can be earned upon completion (approx. price is $79).
Additional comments: This is highly rated by participants and the most popular Coursera Product Management Certification program with the aim of imparting knowledge of core principles of this field. It is part of the Digital Product Management Specialization and has been developed with the support of the Batten Institute at UVA’s Darden School of Business.
Description: Software product management is quickly becoming one of the most in-demand skills. There are 6 Courses in this Specialization including a final Capstone project which gives you opportunity to apply techniques learnt to real-life scenarios experienced by software product managers. It will help you master Agile software management practices to lead a team of developers and interact with clients. In the final Capstone Project, you will practice and apply management techniques to realistic scenarios that you will face as a Software Product Manager. You will have the opportunity to share your experiences and learn from the insights of others as part of a Software Product Management.
For whom: This course is ideal for new product managers, and an excellent, over-all refresher for more experienced specialists. Beginner Level: No programming skills are required.
Duration: Approx. 6 months to complete / Suggested 3 hours per week.
Price: No pricing information is available, but you can enroll for free and financial aid is available. Verified Certificate can be earned upon completion.
Description: Brand and product management is a unique course which enables you to first understand the importance of brand and product management and then use brand development, architecture and portfolios, in order to achieve success. By completing this course, you will be in position to create an activity plan to bring your brand strategy to life - both externally towards consumers and internally to employees. You will be able to define the right metrics for determining success in the implementation of your product and brand strategy, considering any adjustments that may need to be made under a test and learn methodology.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in understanding the challenge of managing products through their 'life-cycle' and learning how to equip your employees with knowledge of how to deliver on your brand promise. Level: all experience levels.
Duration: Approx. 13 hours to complete
Price: No pricing information is available, but you can enroll for free and financial aid is available. Verified Certificate can be earned upon completion.
IN ADDITION:
Description: Design sprints allow you to meet client's desire for quick, specific outcomes while making time to do things right. In this course, we'll show you how to plan and run situation-appropriate sprints to avoid waste and deliver value sooner. You'll explore how to do this across customer discovery, testing with Learn Startup, usability testing, and product architecture.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in understanding how to plan, sell, and conduct design sprints as well as how to test your value propositions before you invest in building a solution. Intermediate Level / Prerequisites: Agile Meets Design Thinking or familiarity with agile and design thinking methodologies.
Duration: Approx. 9 hours to complete
Price: No pricing information is available, but you can enroll for free and financial aid is available. Verified Certificate can be earned upon completion.
Additional comments: As a Project Management Institute (PMI®) Registered Education Provider, the University of Virginia Darden School of Business has been approved by PMI to issue 25 professional development units (PDUs) for this course, which focuses on core competencies recognized by PMI. (Provider #2122)
Description: In the course, you’ll learn about and practice the four steps to a successful negotiation: (1) Prepare: Plan Your Negotiation Strategy ; (2) Negotiate: Use Key Tactics for Success; (3) Close: Create a Contract ; (4) Perform and Evaluate: The End Game
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in enhancing their soft skills, by learning important negotiation skills for business success. Level: all experience levels.
Duration: Approx. 16 hours to complete
Price: No pricing information is available, but you can enroll for free and financial aid is available. Verified Certificate can be earned upon completion.
Additional comments: You will join the hundreds of thousands of learners who have made “Successful Negotiation” one of the most popular and highly-rated MOOCs worldwide. To successfully complete the course, you must answer 80% of the questions correctly. The exam is a Mastery Exam, which means that you can take it as many times as you want until you master the material.
2. edX
edX is a non-profit organization that offers online courses from universities in the United States. For example: Harvard, MIT and British Columbia.
TOP:
Description: This course is a part of a MicroMasters program - A series of credit-eligible courses recognized by industry. You will learn essential tools and techniques to manage the development, launch and growth of digital products and advance your career as a product manager. The full sequence in Digital Product Management includes three online courses: Digital Product Management Foundations – Upon course completion, participants will earn a Questrom Digital knowledge badge ; DPMT: Development Process and Requirements – Upon course completion, participants will earn a Questrom Digital knowledge badge ; Going to Market – Upon course completion, participants will earn a Questrom Digital knowledge badge
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in becoming the “CEO” of the digital product, but unsure which types of skill sets you may need
Duration: Approx. 3 hours per week / 6-8 weeks per course
Price: $225 (without badge minus 50$ for each sub-course)
Additional comments: This is rated as one of the best product management courses online. In addition to the team of highly qualified staff who will deliver the content of this program, at the end you will receive a certificate verified by Boston University. The whole MicroMasters program includes 5 Courses. In this case price is: Free to try or pursue the MicroMasters credential for $1995.
Description: This course is a part of a MicroMasters program - A series of credit-eligible courses recognized by industry. You will learn: Product line planning and road mapping alternatives; Idea generation, customer need assessment, co-creation, definition and validation of minimal viable product (MVP) and allied set up of requirement documents; Alternative approaches for lean, agile and waterfall development, along with the tools for assessing task, project and business risks (and risk mitigation strategies) at scrums or at stage gates; How to launch a product and create a go-to-market strategy to champion your product; Performance Management or how to take ownership of product related profit (or loss) over various life cycle stages; how to track and optimize system performance metrics while organizing social media and third party data towards performance optimization.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in learning how to use lean, agile and systems design thinking in all aspects of the digital products lifecycle. Level: advanced. Prerequisites: Secondary school (high school) algebra; basic mathematics concepts. Background in three areas: Project and process (operations) management concepts, Marketing concepts, Software engineering concepts.
Duration: Approx. 4–8 hours per week / 6 weeks.
Price: You can enroll for free. Verified Certificate can be added upon completion for €335.
Additional comments: The whole MicroMasters program includes 5 Courses. In this case price is: Free to try or pursue the MicroMasters credential for $1995.
IN ADDITION:
Description: Learn what it takes to become an innovation leader in the 21st Century from former Medtronic Chair & CEO Professor Bill George, as he teaches you the concepts, tools and practical tips needed for innovation leadership. Innovation Leadership is organized into three modules, each including videos of Professor Bill George describing essential elements of innovation leaders, illustrating them with personal examples from innovation leaders, readings from Discover Your True North, illustrative charts, exercises, reflection essays, and discussion topics.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in learning more about innovation leadership and how to find the “Sweet Spot” for your innovation leadership. Level: Product managers of all experience levels, but intermediate experience is an advantage.
Duration: Approx. 4–8 hours per week / 6 weeks.
Price: You can enroll for free. Verified Certificate can be added upon completion for €41.
3. Udemy
Udemy offers more than 100.000 courses from over 42.000 different lecturers. Moreover, it supports over 50 languages. Unlike other platforms, the courses do not come from universities but from independent experts.
TOP:
Description: You will learn the skills that make up the entire Product Management job and process: from ideation to market research, to UX wireframing to prototyping, technology, metrics, and finally to building the product with user stories, project management, scoping, and leadership
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in getting a job in Product Management, transitioning into Product Management, advancing their skill set or generally mastering the product development process. Level: No prerequisites, although familiarity with basic business concepts is helpful
Duration: 13 hours on-demand video together with 25 articles and 121 downloadable resources.
Price: €189.99 with 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Certificate of completion is available.
Additional comments: This is most updated, complete and one of the best Product Management courses on Udemy. It includes plenty of interviews with real life PMs, Q&A sessions with students, and a comprehensive guide to preparing and interviewing for a Product Management job
Description: You will learn how to become a more strategic product manager, with a much greater impact on your company and its products as well as learn the best practices for the work of product management - spanning market intelligence, strategy, new product development and lifecycle management. The goal of this course is to help you become a more strategic product manager - with a greater impact on your company and its future product portfolio
For whom: This is an in-depth course much suitable for product managers with some experience (0-5 years) working with engineers (software developers, hardware developers, scientists, etc.) to develop next generation products (although not required) who want to learn improved strategies and practices for their field of work. Any prior experience is not a requirement to take this course.
Duration: 5 hours on-demand video together with 15 articles and 54 downloadable resources.
Price: €19.99 with 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Certificate of completion is available.
Additional comments: This is one of the best Product Management Certification online courses that teaches you to become a more strategic product manager so you are able to balance the strategic and tactical elements of your job much better
Description: This is a Product Management course (with Live Case Exercises & inputs from PMs @Top Tech cos.)- Build n Grow products & Get Hired. The most complete course you'll find on Product Management with practical case studies, 35 Live Case Hand-on Exercises & Quizzes. The course is built with inputs from product managers working at top tech firms (Google, Adobe, Amazon and many more). You'll learn about the entire skill sets, tools and processes used in building and managing great products.
For whom: The course covers the fundamentals and how to apply them; as well as, how to develop advanced skills for and finally how to prepare to get a job as a Product Manager. Level: This course has no prerequisites. Just an urge to learn!
Duration: 4 hours on-demand video together with 6 articles and 1 downloadable resources.
Price: €79.99 with 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Certificate of completion is available.
IN ADDITION:
Description: In this truly modern course, you'll learn all of the advanced skills and techniques that successful product managers use in their day-to-day working lives. From how to implement vision and strategy to getting a better understanding of how to use data, these lectures are designed for founders, CEOs and, of course, product managers. With real world examples demonstrating exactly how to execute each approach, you'll find out exactly what to do (and what not to do) to build your company up to the level it deserves.
For whom: You already know the basics of being a product manager and securing that all-important job. But ensuring the success of your products is an entirely different ball game. You need to know the framework that transforms any product from zero to hero and the metrics measuring techniques that will allow you to figure out a product's successes and pitfalls. After all, there's nothing that can't be improved. Level: As this is an advanced course, a basic understanding of Product Management would be beneficial.
Duration: 5.5 hours on-demand video together with 6 articles and 47 downloadable resources.
Price: €199.99 with 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Certificate of completion is available.
Description: This course is about building "buyer personas" for business-to-business (B2B) markets.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in getting more knowledge about B2B Buyer personal as well as how to get started, work personal template, use persona and finally bring it to life
Duration: 2 hours on-demand video together with 1 articles and 3 downloadable resources.
Price: €19.99 with 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. Certificate of completion is available.
4. Udacity
Udacity is a for-profit educational organization offering massive open online courses (MOOCs) with a mission to power careers through tech education for more than already 7 million Udacity students all over the globe.
Description: This course is designed to help you materialize your game-changing idea and transform it into a product that you can build a business around. Product Design blends theory and practice to teach you product validation, UI/UX practices, Google’s Design Sprint and the process for setting and tracking actionable metrics.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in enhancing their skill-set and boost hireability. Level: Intermediate or entry-level product managers.
Duration: Approx. 2 Months
Price: Free
Description: Without customers, your business does not exist. Marketing helps you understand your potential user and focus your product on their needs. This course will help you organize a strategy of identifying your perfect user, find ways to connect with them and what you’ll say when you find them. This covers research, planning, execution and most importantly how to grow your user base.
For whom: This course is ideal for those professionals who are interested in learning more about a robust marketing plan, including a slide deck with a description of your value to your customers, how you stack up against competitors, who your target audience is, and to grow your customer base. Level: Intermediate or entry-level product managers.
Duration: Approx. 2 Months
Price: Free
Additional comments: This course has no formal prerequisites, and you can complete this course using the aBarkment app as an example. But if you have your own product idea, they encourage you to explore Product Design and Rapid Prototyping courses. You can leverage the mockups from those courses to get even more out the instruction and exercises in this course.
Description: Attendees will learn how to evaluate the business value of an AI product. They’ll start by building familiarity and fluency with common AI concepts. They’ll then learn how to scope and build a data set, train a model, and evaluate its business impact. Finally, attendees will learn how to ensure a product is successful by focusing on scalability, potential biases, and compliance. Along the way, they’ll review case studies and examples to help them focus on how to define metrics to measure the business value for a proposed product.
For whom: Attendees should have basic computer skills and be comfortable navigating online, no experience required.
Duration: 2 months (Estimated time) / 5-10 hours per week
Price: 2 months access: €618; 1 month access: €359
Additional comments: Benefits include: Real-world projects from industry experts, Technical mentor support, Personal career coach & career services
5. Other Platforms - Product Management Courses Offered on different platforms:
TOP:
Description: You’ll learn how to scope projects effectively, improve time budgeting and resource allocation, and get the project done on time and within budget. This program consists of 5 courses: Organizing the Project and Its Components; Planning and Managing Resources; Assessing, Managing, and Mitigating Project Risk; Using Earned Value Management for Project Managers; Agile Project Management Approaches; PMP Study Group.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who are interested in getting a job in Product Management, transitioning into Product Management, advancing their skill set or generally mastering the product development process.
Price: Approx. $3,600
Additional comments: Earn PDU credits towards your Project Management Professional certification and exam when you complete Cornell’s Project Management program. Get results using time-tested strategies and practical, hands-on tools to execute and succeed in project management.
Description: 280 Group is a Product Management training and consulting firm, located in Silicon Valley, California. 280 Group works with companies and individuals around the world, providing them with products and services to educate, support, and delight those interested in learning more about product management. Their Product Management courses are hands-on, practical and useful. Topics include: core Product Management and Product Marketing skills across the full Product Lifecycle, the Optimal Product Process™, Agile, Scrum, Digital Product Management, team leadership, and more. We offer a unique approach to Product Management training with our Training Retention Program. There are 3 Live Online courses: Online Optimal Product Management and Product Marketing Course; Online Digital Product Management; Certified Product Manager – Virtual Instructor Review.
For whom: This platform is ideal for those specialists who are interested in finding a framework that they could use to understand and explain the role of Product Management, to get a holistic overview of Product Management.
Duration: Between 10 and 20 hours.
Price: $2,995 (for Online Optimal Product Management and Product Marketing Course; Online Digital Product Management) and $1,000 (for Certified Product Manager – Virtual Instructor Review).
Additional comments: Most in-person and online training comes with a Training Retention Program, a corresponding self-study course and certification exam that allows you to review, retain and master what you learned and prepare for an industry-standard certification exam. For those courses without a training retention program, we offer in-depth handouts that enable you to review content and study for certification exams. In addition to Live Online courses, 280 Group also offers Self-study online courses and In-Person Training.
IN ADDITION:
Description: Building IoT products is hard, and it's easy to see why. IoT products have more parts and more complexity than non-connected products. This course will teach you how to gain a deep understanding of how to bring IoT products to market; learn the top IoT business models to monetize your product; set the skills to minimize critical risks in your IoT roadmap.
For whom: This course is ideal for specialists who would like to learn more about the skills to drive the product through numerous components across the IoT Technology Stack, including hardware, embedded software, connectivity, cloud software, and front-end applications.
Duration: Approx. 7 weeks / 3-4 hours per week.
Price: Approx. $1195 with a test-drive for the program for 30 days. Once you complete all the lectures included in the program you'll immediately receive your IoT Product Manager Certificate by email.
Additional comments: Over 1,200 Product professionals from some of the top companies in the world have taken this course.
Description: Blackblot®, is a unique knowledge company which specializes in developing practical technology product management and product marketing work methodologies. With a special interest and expertise in technology products, Blackblot empowers corporate product management professionals with best-practice knowledge, tools and skills in their field. The Blackblot Strategic Product Management™ training program curriculum presents advanced concepts and practical implementation guides. Each highly interactive course is based on the Blackblot PMTK Methodology™ and taught according to Blackblot's established training pedagogy
For whom: The training programs provide attendees with the knowledge, skills and tools to successfully formulate and lead product organizations and establish effective product management processes, to plan and manage strategic marketing activities at technology companies or to effectively contribute to product pricing activities
Duration: There are five different courses; one is a three-day program, three are one-day programs, and one is a specialized, private program.
Price: No pricing information is available
Description:. Mind the Product is an international professional network for product people with the goal of bringing product managers together to connect, exchange and learn from each other . The remote workshops deal with the following five topics: Product Management Foundations, Communication & Alignment, Product Leadership, Metrics for Product Managers, Mapping. The courses cover everything from product management basics to product leadership skills.
For whom: The workshops are ideal for product managers (from young professionals to executives with 1.5 years+) in order to learn new skills, hone their craft or improve their abilities
Duration: varies from 2 consecutive half-day sessions to one day sessions
Price: No pricing information is available.
Additional comments: In order to continue offering product management training in a safe environment for attendees and trainers, all courses run in a new interactive, remote workshop format across multiple days.
Description: LI Learning is offering video courses taught by industry experts in software, creative, and business skills. It provides you with relevant, up-to-date content taught by credible industry experts ; connects learners to the right content at the moments that matter most in their career ; drives higher learner engagement by making learning intuitive, social, and interactive.
For whom: You can get the training you need to stay ahead with expert-led courses on Product Management, including Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced levels
Duration: Varies: from less than 10 minutes to 3+ hours.
Price: Is available as a Premium monthly subscription for $29.99, or as an Annual subscription for $299.88.
Description: The Certified Product Manager – Online Course and Exam teaches you all the core skills that are critical to be a highly-effective Product Manager. In this course you’ll learn how to manage products through every phase of the Product Lifecycle to make them (and your career) more successful. The online course includes 18 learning modules, quizzes, interactive exercises, study materials and a comprehensive practice exam to help you master the material and pass the worldwide-standard Certified Product Manager exam. Meet virtually for eight weeks with a group and instructor to ask questions and review the most important material. Sessions run once a week to keep you on track, review the online course and get you certified in just ten weeks.
For whom: This course is ideal for new and mid-level Product Managers who want to learn core skills and best practices; experienced Product Managers who want to refresh their knowledge and expand their skill set; students who want to become Product Managers and learn about the profession, core skills and get certified; organizations that want to optimize their Product Management function and pilot the course prior to private custom training. Skill level - Beginner to Advanced.
Duration: Approx. 10 weeks / 15 – 20 Hours – Average time to complete the online course, exercises and study for the exam.
Price: Varies: $1,495.00 for The Online Course; $2,495.00 for adding Virtual Instructor Review; no concrete price for Virtual Instructor Review for Teams.
Additional comments: Once you have completed the online course and exam preparation materials you will be ready to take the Certified Product Manager® (CPM) exam administered by the Association of International Product Marketing and Management (AIPMM) to earn the prestigious and highly-respected credential.
6. Time-Specific - Product Management Courses that have precise start and end date:
Description: Product Management isn`t just for product managers. Learn how to create value through scalable solutions and drive business success from some of the best employers in industry. You will learn about Product strategy, product lifecycle management, design thinking, customer value metrics, business model canvas, prioritization frameworks, roadmapping, go-to market strategy, backlog management, and product-market fit.
For whom: This course is ideal for those specialists who are interested in learning about the tools and techniques you need to help bring your product ideas to life, getting into product management or looking to enhance their skill-set. Prerequisites: None.
Duration: 8 weeks / 5-8 hours per week.
Price: $ 1200 incl GST
The role of Product Managers is growing and becoming increasingly important for many companies all over the world, helping brands bring exceptional and innovative products to the end user. At the same time, becoming a successful Product Manager requires constant learning. Therefore the greatest specialists in this field are those who consistently learn and recognize the value in both personal and professional development, because of the ever-changing product management industry.
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
Benjamin Franklin
We hope that after having a look at this list you can pick a course that’s right for your current skill level, time, budget and personal area of interest.
You can expand your knowledge and acquire new skills without getting certified, but if you are interested to learn more specifically about certifications in this field, apart from those mentioned above, please have a look at these sources: here, here as well as here (information can be repetitive).