Modern business cannot exist without a manager. This profession is difficult to master from scratch, as a long career path leads to it, the study of numerous aspects related to the field of activity and the very structure of the company. This difficult path can be greatly shortened with professional courses. In order to understand such issues in more detail and choose the right tools for achieving the goal, the editorial staff of the site “bestx.htgetrid.com/en/” has prepared for you a rating of the best online courses for managers for 2020.
Content
Who is the product or project manager?
Such specialists are compared to strategists who often carry an overwhelming burden on their own shoulders. Their task is distinguished by increased complexity. And everything comes from two basic concepts. The product is the final product offered to consumers. It can appear as a physically visible and tangible product, program, application, or service. In contrast, a project is a specific scope of activities, consisting of various aspects. All of them are aimed at a specific result, have a fixed start and end date.
Product Manager
The product manager fulfills the duties of a leader responsible for the effectiveness of the product at all its stages. The area of responsibility of this specialist includes the entire cycle related to the creation, implementation and the final stage of the product, defined by the project in the company. The manager must:
- Engage in demand research and market analysis;
- Conduct surveys, questionnaires and research;
- Deal with strategy development;
- Carry out positioning of the final stage of the product;
- Close contact with members of your group and its technical specialists to discuss the technical issues of the product component;
- Monitor product development;
- Accommodation at all stages after development, product release to the market.
Product managers are the most demanded specialists in the domestic market and abroad. The task of a Product-Manager includes a global strategy, implementation launch, ideas and initiatives. This professional is responsible for assigning priorities, issues related to profit and costs, and researching the market situation. The study and proper use of the competitive environment allows you to achieve significant results when promoting the company's products.
The software used to optimize product promotion acts as a tracking factor, documenting and recording product, strategy and prioritization. One of the main tools in this is the roadmap and backlog management.
Project manager
The specific goals that product managers engage in are less relevant to project managers. This specialist receives recommendations and functions related to the product for further development and fixing of the timeline.He bears the risks, constraints, resources and scope of the task. Responsibility of project managers extends to the provision, updates, status, resource for the project, team collaboration, control of budget funds for the project, solving current issues within the project, maintaining project documentation. They make plans for the execution of work, are looking for contractors. The software for professional use by project managers is designed as professional tools used to monitor and manage all elements of a project.
How to become a professional product or project manager?
There are several ways to become a cool professional manager. The beginner can go a long way, starting from the product developer and gradually moving on to other stages of product sales. This will be a logical continuation of career growth. The disadvantage of this method will be the duration of the required effect.
The second way to achieve professional career growth is training. It can be carried out in the specialty of higher education, refresher courses, attending seminars, participation in training courses, where theoretical knowledge is consolidated by practical exercises. Such courses can be delivered face-to-face or online. Modern man often prefers the latter option of education.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Distance Learning
The huge popularity of online courses for managers is due to the many advantages, which include:
- Comfort;
- Saving time, resources and effort;
- Manufacturability;
- No discrimination based on race, gender and other grounds;
- No barriers to immigration;
- High level of interaction between teacher and students;
- Creativity of teaching.
During distance learning, you do not need to spend a lot of time on the trip to the place of study and back. In addition, there are no geographical restrictions in the choice of an educational institution. The student will be able to build the educational process at a convenient pace and schedule. You can express your opinion on the issue under discussion in writing. It is much more convenient to conduct a virtual discussion with the help of gadgets. The quality and validity of each comment can be well considered. This form of training provides an opportunity to access resources and information from around the world.
The cost of such courses in most cases will be cheaper for the student. It becomes possible to work on mastering knowledge anywhere in the world where there is access to a PC or the Internet. Online training allows you to get acquainted with new technologies and practice the use of office Internet support.
Among the many advantages, it is worth mentioning the disadvantages of distance learning. During the courses, the opportunities for teachers and students are limited. The lack of an individual approach on the part of the teaching staff in terms of personal communication and communication creates discomfort for students. Most of the communication is done through email, chat or discussion groups, which eliminates the need for the student atmosphere needed to develop social skills. Students' opportunities are completely limited by the local network.
Sometimes, to use certain office programs, you need to improve the parameters of your own PC, which is associated with additional costs. The student is forced to adjust the teaching schedule with the teacher's schedule. When teaching at night, you have to wait for an answer from the teacher until the next day.The effectiveness of the assessment of such learning is often questioned by many teachers, since there is no way to check whether students are learning the basics that are taught in the course. The answers can be produced by the program, which reduces the objectivity of the assessment. The student must be motivated and disciplined to meet the teachers' requirements in a timely manner.
Ranking of the best online courses for 2020
To select a training course for distance learning, you need to carefully consider the proposed options. The editors of the site "bestx.htgetrid.com/en/" have prepared a short review on this topic, thanks to which you can decide on the training program.
Product Manager Courses
Lean Product Management by Product Vision
The manager of this online course is Sergey Parashchenko. Classes last about 60 hours, in a team of up to 6 people, practical exercises and consultations with a mentor. Each group is assigned a curator and mentor who is actively involved in the work, helps the teams to organize the educational process. At the end of each week, team members will demonstrate their skills to the mentor and other group members. The course has 5 modules:
- Analysis of the market situation and target audience;
- Creation of projects and testing of the released product;
- Field "tests";
- Development of a roadmap and product backlog;
- Calculation of the economic component;
- Implementation of metrics.
Classes are held for 6 weeks. Lessons last 2 hours 3 times a week. The cost of an online course for individuals is 62,000 rubles, and for legal entities - 74,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- Course intensity;
- Learning efficiency;
- Full immersion in practice;
- Structured knowledge;
- Not overloaded with the theoretical part;
- Number of practical assignments;
- Suitable for learners of all skill levels.
Disadvantages:
- It will be difficult for beginners;
- Price.
Online course "How to be a Product" by Product Star
The course consists of video lessons, after watching which the user needs to do their homework. The course includes:
- Basic skills of the "Product Manager";
- Applied Analytics;
- Professional skills and qualities of a product manager;
- Improving the skill level for the Middle-product;
- Product manager documents;
- Defense of the proposed project;
- Restarts;
- Use of mobile products;
- Analysis of errors;
- Monetization;
- Analysis of the activities of competing companies;
- Market and share calculation;
- Diploma;
- Help in finding a job.
During the training, it becomes possible to “feel” the main value of the product, improve functionality, build main and secondary use cases. Students will learn how to identify bottlenecks. The course deals with examples of documentation, a description of the operation of algorithms, specifications and features of high-load projects. The analysis of metrics and work with user feedback takes place. Applied Analytics explores the types of experiments and their advantages and disadvantages. The specialist will be able to test and quantify product hypotheses and find out the statistics of competitors. The training is carried out for 2-6 months, but it can be completed earlier, having successfully completed the assignments and received practical skills. Classes are carried out online 2 times a week. Each lesson lasts 1-2 hours. The cost of the course is 29,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- Efficiency;
- Form of study;
- Structured feed;
- Useful services and work with them;
- Designed for different levels of training;
- Price;
- Motivational component.
Disadvantages:
- Requires deepening and perseverance.
Online Course "Product Manager Trainer" Skillfactory
This course is taught by managers of Yandex.Market, Rosbank, MTS and Qlean Labs. Applicants will learn how to conduct audience analysis, assess the market and competitors. After completing the course, managers can master the methods of unit economics, the principles of product design and the basics of UX, form an understanding of product metrics and learn to look for points of multiple growth.The training is suitable for analysts, marketers, brand managers, product managers and other professionals. Beginners in this area will be able to gain practical experience, get acquainted with different cases and gain self-confidence. Professionals in this field will become confident specialists, ready for real work. After training, they will confidently be able to work with such aspects and programs:
- Customer development;
- Value Proposition Canvas;
- Lean Canvas;
- Target audience segments.
Duration of training is 3 months or 84 hours. The cost of the course is 34,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- Content quality;
- Material presentation form;
- Number of case examples;
- Emphasis on practice;
- Operational support;
- Classes can be viewed at a convenient time;
- A complex approach.
Disadvantages:
- It will be difficult for beginners to master;
- Requires basic programming skills, understanding of data structures and their relationships;
- Price.
Netology course Product Manager
This program, developed together with Rambler, will provide an opportunity to master the profession of a junior product from scratch. It was created with the active support of the HSE Faculty of Communications. It includes 5 main modules and 11 optional ones. The emphasis is on practice. Each of the applicants will be able to work with 4 different products.
Thanks to the training process, the specialist will be able to master budget management, building communications within the team and with the outside world. Beginners will be able to upgrade their soft and hard skills, study in detail and learn how to assess user needs, build development strategies and test hypotheses. Classes are held online and offline. Each group has a responsible coordinator who solves all organizational issues, assists with the assimilation and understanding of the material. The training program is designed for 4 months with lessons 2-3 times a week. The cost of the course is 90,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- Suitable for mastering with zero knowledge;
- Efficiency;
- Material supply quality;
- Homework helps to better consolidate the knowledge gained;
- Motivation to learn;
- Networking;
- The universality of knowledge applied in various fields.
Disadvantages:
- Price.
Project manager
Skillbox Digital Project Manager
The course takes place in the format of video lessons and contains 7 modules, including:
- Web designer from 0;
- Specialist in preparing presentations and public speaking;
- Responsible for digital projects;
- Programming and recruiting for beginners;
- Excel;
- Google Sheets
- Internet Marketer from Ingate.
The teachers of the training program are highly qualified and potential. Among them are digital producers Sibirix, representative of CEO Rocketslides, head of OKTAEDER, Codedesign.io, founder of AIC and many others.
During the learning process, students will be able to master the following skills:
- Management of a group involved in performing certain tasks;
- Changing the priority of actions and setting tasks;
- Agile + Scrum;
- Preparation of reporting documentation and control over document flow;
- TED talk;
- Development and placement of contextual advertising;
- Prioritization;
- Negotiating with business partners;
- Search engine promotion;
- Drawing up an appraisal opinion on the project or development of technical specifications;
- Customer Journey Map;
- Optimization of financial and labor resources;
- Traffic analysis;
- Responsive and cross-browser layout and much more.
During the training, applicants will use the following software:
- Yandex.Metrica;
- Excel;
- After Effects;
- Yandex.Direct;
- Google Sheets;
- Google Analytics;
- HTML;
- Google Adwords;
- CSS;
- Photoshop;
- Power Point;
- A programming language for programmatically accessing application objects.
After graduation, applicants receive a diploma. The cost of the course is 127,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- Material volume;
- The quality of information presentation;
- Efficiency;
- Access as teaching material at any time;
- Motivation to learn;
- Help from mentors;
- Number of practical sessions;
- Diploma upon completion.
Disadvantages:
- Price.
"Project manager" from Netology
The basic course contains 21 lectures for 200 teaching hours. Thanks to such a program, you can master the basics of management and design, monitoring and monitoring the progress of the project until its completion. Applicants will be able to learn how to manage risk and quality in an organization in an environment of constant change. During the passage of the educational process, students expect a lot of practical work of an individual and team nature. A team of coordinators, tutors and experts will accompany the entire training process. At the end, applicants will receive a thesis, which must be defended before the commission. Online, the project manager can check the thesis, give detailed comments and give the final project.
Students will be able to acquire the following key skills:
- Project planning;
- Assessment of the level of income or risk;
- Design management based on PMI PMBoK v.6;
- Ability to carry out activities using flexible methodologies;
- Budgeting;
- Financial planning.
The cost of the course is 100,000 rubles.
Advantages:
- Material availability;
- Amount of information;
- Curator support;
- Certificate of completion of training in the established form;
- Training format;
- Networking;
- Help with employment.
Disadvantages:
- Price.
After reviewing the most popular and well-established online courses, you can easily select training material for specific purposes. If you had experience using online courses for managers described in the ranking, write your feedback in the comments.