Once upon a time, product management resources were limited. Nowadays, there’s so much out there that it’s hard to separate what’s useful from what’s marketing fluff. Fortunately, there are more great product resources than ever before. My top recommendations are below.

Man in a brown blazer, blue tie, and gray pants standing in a conference hall, holding a notebook. People are visible in the background, engaging in conversations and activities.

Communities

Being based in London and often traveling to New York, I regularly attend two Product groups: Product Tank London and the Product-Led Alliance. Both groups have chapters around the globe.

Event poster for ProductTank London, a Mind the Product meetup, with a blue color scheme and group of people in the background.
Colorful gradient background with white text that says 'Fuel your growth with a product-led approach' and a logo for the Product-Led Alliance.

Books and courses

Product Management Fundamentals

My personal Top Five list. Hard to pick just five, but these are some books that I’ve successfully and consistently used to onboard and coach new product managers.

  1. INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love (Marty Cagan)

  2. User Story Mapping (Jeff Patton)

  3. Continuous Discovery Habits (Teresa Torres)

  4. Business Model Generation (The Strategyzer Series)

  5. Testing Business Ideas: A Field Guide for Rapid Experimentation (The Strategyzer Series)

Courses

  1. Pendo has some nice courses on product management fundamentals. Each course has a certification available too.

  2. Though I haven’t yet taken any myself, I know many who swear by Reforge’s courses. They cover many areas of product management, from the general to the specialized.

  3. LinkedIn Learning has lots of courses on product management. They tend to be more general but the quantity and diversity mean it’s a potentially good resource.

Communication

I’ve heard it said that a product manager’s superpower is communication. I would not disagree.

  1. TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking (Chris Anderson)

  2. Never Split The Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It (Chris Voss)

  3. Join a Toastmasters Group (see below)

Toastmasters International

A man in a gray suit giving a speech in a room with exposed ceiling beams, a brick wall, and an audience seated in chairs.

Toastmasters International is a “a nonprofit educational organization that builds confidence and teaches public speaking skills through a worldwide network of clubs that meet online and in person.” It’s been around for over a century, with hundreds of thousands of members and tens of thousands of clubs globally. Toastmasters offers many programs to help one develop leadership and communication skills.

I first joined Toastmasters in 2018 as a charter member of Springer Nature Toastmasters. Since then, I’ve served as a Club Officer on many occasions and am currently Club President. I’ve completed the ‘Persuasive Influence’ path and am working on completing the ‘Dynamic Leadership’ path.

For anyone seriously interested in developing communication and leadership skills, Toastmasters is always my default recommendation. I and many thousands of others, have benefitted immensely from it.

You can find one of my more recent Toastmasters presentations here.