Foundations of Product Management & Product Lifecycle

Why product management exists · the Product Manager persona · skills and business acumen · product vs project vs business analysis · decision rights

1. Why products fail and how management cuts uncertainty
2. Customer value and trade-offs in every product choice
3. Evidence or opinion — one decision, two ways
4. The Product Manager persona — duties and skills
5. A persona sheet you can fill in
6. Shared decisions with the Product Owner and Project Manager
7. Three disciplines — product, project and business analysis
8. Goals, outputs and decision rights side by side
9. One product, three roles — a worked example

Kotler’s five levels · core and peripheral offerings · physical, digital, service and platform products · two lifecycles on one timeline

1. Kotler’s five levels — from core benefit to potential product
2. Core and peripheral offerings — a sorting worksheet
3. Level by level — how a food-delivery app adds value
4. Physical, digital, service and platform products
5. How practice differs by product type
6. One idea in four forms — a worked comparison
7. The Product Lifecycle — Introduction to Decline
8. The Product Management Lifecycle — Conceive to Retire
9. Putting both lifecycles on one timeline

Outputs and outcomes · vanity measures · Build-Measure-Learn · testable assumptions · success factors by lifecycle phase

1. Outputs and outcomes — what you ship and what changes
2. Choosing a small, balanced set of metrics
3. A misleading dashboard — a worked example
4. The Build-Measure-Learn loop explained
5. From idea to testable assumption — a template
6. Running a small test — a worked example
7. Success factors — goals, deliverables and metrics
8. Which metrics matter most at each stage
9. A one-page success map for one product

Scrum, Kanban and Lean · ceremonies and deliverables · working with other functions · RACI

1. Scrum, Kanban and Lean — the core ideas
2. When each approach fits best
3. Mapping Scrum ceremonies to Product Manager deliverables
4. Working with engineering and design
5. Working with sales, marketing, support and finance
6. A day in the life — a worked example
7. Responsibility matrices — what RACI means
8. Building a RACI for a sample product
9. Fixing a muddled RACI — a worked example

Tuckman’s stages · Lencioni’s dysfunctions · team charter · influence and interest grid · communication plan

1. Tuckman’s four stages of team growth
2. Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team
3. Diagnosing a team — a worked example
4. What a team charter is and why teams need one
5. Writing the charter — purpose, agreements, rules, rhythm
6. Planning a new team’s first weeks with Tuckman
7. Who are your stakeholders — influence and interest
8. How to engage each stakeholder group
9. A communication plan — audience, message, channel, frequency

Vision and strategy · the one-page statement · portfolio, program and product levels · backlog, roadmap and decision log

1. Vision and strategy — what each one is
2. The one-page vision and strategy template
3. Testing a vision statement — a worked example
4. Portfolio, program and product — three levels
5. Roles and objectives at each level
6. Where the Product Manager contributes — a worked example
7. What a product workspace needs
8. Setting up the workspace in a work-tracking tool
9. Filling the workspace — a sample product example

Common new-manager mistakes · habits that prevent them · ethical duties to users · competencies · a development plan

1. Jumping to solutions and other classic mistakes
2. A plan is not a strategy — and why alignment matters
3. Habits that prevent mistakes — a checklist
4. Ethical duties of a Product Manager to users
5. Data, accessibility and manipulative design
6. An ethics check for a release — a worked example
7. The Product Manager competency areas
8. Rating your own skills — a self-assessment template
9. Your development plan — specific learning actions

Reading lifecycle stage from evidence · actions that fit each stage · the product brief · the road ahead

1. Reading a product’s lifecycle stage from the evidence
2. Product Manager actions that fit each stage
3. A real-life case across all four stages
4. What goes into a product brief
5. Drafting the brief in a document or tracking template
6. Reviewing the brief with stakeholders
7. From foundations to market study and requirements
8. From foundations to launch and post-launch work
9. Your learning map for what comes next