This Is My Journey To Master Product Management At Alt School Africa

This Is My Journey To Master Product Management At Alt School Africa

The last few years have witnessed increased demand for tech skills. Of course, who does not want a share of the “tech money?”? Being a “tech bro” is not a bad idea. Wink. On a serious note, this desire was driven by my mantra always to be green, no matter the time or trend in the global skills market. Then I said to myself, which tech skills can I learn? I knew that the coding tech courses were not for me. I remember watching a video highlighting 40 of the best 2024 skills. And in that list, product management was listed. I did some research and conducted some introspection. I checked my career history and my relevant skills. By the way, I have over 15 years of experience in Customer Service management, operations management, Business Process Outsourcing, Training and Development, and managing high-performing teams. There and then, I realized that product management suits my skills, abilities, and plans. After conducting some research, I found out about Alt School Africa. This journey started in April 2023, and this is July 2024, I can say that I am an equipped and energized product manager. In this short article, I want to share some insights I have gleaned along the way. This will also help someone contemplating learning a tech skill, product management in particular. Grab a seat.

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I must warn you: learning a new skill is not a walk in the park. There were days and nights I struggled with classes (live and LMS), assignments, deliverables, and exams. Please take note that this was done while holding a high-demanding job in the ever-hilarious and beautiful city of Lagos. Imagine having to choose between attending classes and watching your favorite football team. Did I leave out the data cost? That’s another story. But one thing I have learned is the need to always choose what you need to do above what you like to do. So, I chose what I needed to do. But the classes were worth the while. As I write this article, I just got a notification for the midweek class. Now, let me share three things you must pay attention to on your journey to becoming a product manager.

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Before I dive into that, you might ask, what is Product Management? According to Tempo Strategic Roadmaps, product management is the practice of strategically guiding the development, launch, and ongoing management of a product or service. It involves understanding customer needs, defining product requirements, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and making data-driven decisions to deliver a successful product. In summary, a product manager oversees the entire lifecycle of a product, ensuring it is created on time, on budget, and functions appropriately with the end user in mind. In product management, there are different concepts such as user-centered design, market research, product lifecycle, and agile methodology. Now that we know this, what next?

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In my journey to mastering product management at Alt School Africa, I have come to realize that there are three areas of knowledge one has to master. These are soft skills, product management tools, and product management concepts, principles, and methodologies. If you want to become an astute product manager, you have to master these core areas. Methodologies such as Agile methodology and concepts such as Kanban, customer research, roadmaps, and tools such as Jira, Trello, and Google Analytics have to become your bread and butter.

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One key component of becoming a world-class product manager is soft skills. The bulk of the day-to-day activities of a product manager include collaborating with diverse teams and ensuring that tasks are delivered well and on time. You must master skills such as communication, leadership, empathy, and problem-solving. These are skills you should have picked up along the way. You also have to be able to sell your vision to people. You have to be convincing. Added to this is the need to constantly produce product documents and other relevant product documents. You have these skills, at least to a certain level; however, you might need to improve them. Trust me, if you have finished at least a high school or secondary school education, you have these skills. This becomes better if you are a good human being. One other way of acquiring these skills is through volunteering. Always volunteer to take on extra responsibilities wherever you are. Take on leadership roles. Make it a habit to write in good English, even while relating to your friends and family members. This soft skill was quite easy for me. I am bold to say that it is an area in which I excel.

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In terms of tools, one has to master tools such as JIRA, Trello, Aha!, and analytics tools (Google Analytics). These tools are required to excel. For instance, while creating wireframes, you need a working knowledge of a tool such as Jira. Google Analytics helps you source essential details from a product website. These tools are required to help you convert your thoughts into reality. As it is, product management is highly visual; these tools facilitate your ability to convert thoughts into easily consumable images, diagrams, and visuals. Knowledge has been liberalized. You can easily learn these tools via YouTube, but you have to put in the work.

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In case you are wondering how you can be a part of this learning journey, do not fret; you can join us at Alt School. At Alt School, we have classes twice a week, Wednesday and Saturday. In addition to this, we have a fantastic LMS that houses a fantastic array of industry-expert-led classes. All classes are online, which means one can study from anywhere in the world. Learn and apply; this is a key feature of mastering product management. Application of knowledge is at the heart of learning any tech skill. You have to apply whatever you learn. The goal is to build relevant solutions in the first place; this is why application is required. At Alt School, my hands were full of tasks and assignments. I had to deliver different documents, such as customer personas, product requirements documents, product strategy documents, customer and market research documents, created loads of survey forms, and collaborated with a diverse collection of people—old, young, millennial, Gen Z, and even Gen Alpha. It was fun. My soft skills came in handy.

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At the moment, I am working with a group of talented and brilliant minds to create an amazing tech solution. In the course of building this solution, I have had to dig, dip, and apply all I have learned so far. This digital solution seeks to help busy professionals focus on their essential tasks by leveraging technology to deliver speed and convenience. I do not want to let the cat out of the bag yet. But watch out for more details. You will love the solution. No learning journey does not come with some form of stress, especially for adult learners like me. Discipline is the key word. You know, as adults, no one disciplines you to finish your assignments and all that. You have to discipline yourself to do what you need to do and not what you want to do. Remember, motivation gets you started, but discipline gets you across the finish line. I have a couple of other digital solutions I like to bring to life. To this end, I am inviting anyone interested in creating amazing digital products to join me on this journey. Even if you do not have tech skills, you can finance the project. Please slide into my DM for more details.

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All in all, the journey of a thousand steps will always come to an end. As I count down to the concluding few weeks of my product management learning journey, I salute myself for a job well done. I also appreciate the entire team at Alt School Africa; I do not forget my colleagues and Hub members. The world gets better when you meet amazing people. If you are still considering tech education but do not have the inclination for coding, product management might be the one for you. Product management allows you to become a creator. You will become responsible for bringing ideas to life and nurturing those same ideas into a full-fledged organic entity. Amazing, right? This is my open invitation to join the world of product managers. Join us.

Tabitha Kavyu AltSchool Africa Olatunji Fagbore

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