Product management encompasses the processes used to develop, market, and sell a product. Like project planning in other fields, the effective use of these techniques is important to ensuring that products are delivered on time and within their budget. However, product management is being transformed by the ability to access unprecedented amounts of marketing and consumer data, as well as the emergence of the market for digital products like apps which have a much more complex product lifecycle.

Thus, expertise in modern product management methods is critically important. Whether you’re developing physical or software products, a familiarity with digital marketing analytics, user testing, and other customer research techniques provide invaluable insights on product/market fit to guide the development and marketing process. In industries like tech that prize innovation and speed, new frameworks like design thinking, Agile, and Scrum are popular ways to structure product development teams and processes to rapidly ideate, iterate, and bring new digital products to market.

Regardless of the product you’re developing and your preferred methodology, the work of a product manager is still fundamentally about managing teams and ensuring they work together effectively. So, while modern product management techniques are increasingly important for meeting the needs of today’s marketplace, interpersonal “soft skills” will always be essential tools for professionals in this field.

Skilled product managers are essential to the success of any company creating new products to sell, including any type of physical product ranging from new toys to manufacturing equipment to consumer electronics. While every physical product category has its own specific production and marketing requirements, there are also many shared similarities for product management processes that can allow professionals in this field to pursue careers across different industries.

In contrast, product managers need more specialized expertise to work in tech, where a familiarity with specific software development and product management methodologies is a prerequisite for many companies. Product managers are also greatly elevated in importance in tech, to the point where McKinsey has called them “mini-CEOs” - and noted an emerging trend of product management “emerging as a new training ground for future tech CEOs.”

Yes, Coursera has a wide range of courses available in business as well as computer science topics - including product management, which often sits at the intersection of these two fields. You can learn about traditional product management techniques as well as specialized digital product methodologies from top-ranked institutions like the University of Virginia, HEC Paris, and the University of Alberta, or leading companies like Atlassian.

Learning online also lets you to pursue your product management education on a flexible schedule, allowing you to build valuable new skills while continuing to work at your current job - or working on your latest entrepreneurial venture.