The Product Manager's Desk Reference

by Steven Haines

Book Overview

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071591346
• ISBN13: 9780071591348
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 704 Pages
• Weight: 3.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.0" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Best Product Management Book I Have, Hands Down

Really, the title says it all. This is the most valuable product management book I've bought. It's so thorough and well-written that I have been reading it straight through. It covers all aspects of Product Management, including strategy, forecasts, cross-functional team management, business cases, launch, and post-mortems. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. If you are a Product Manager, you can't afford not to get this book. My copy is filled with copious notes, underlines, highlights, and is dog-eared on many sections. I have recommended this book to my whole team. And no, I don't know the author. This is completely based on my own experience using this reference as a Sr. Product Manager for a major entertainment company.

The definitive reference for the art and science of Product Management!

There are some books that are destined to become classics in their field. The Product Manager's Desk Reference by Steven Haines is one of those books. Anyone working not just in Product Management but also Marketing and Business Development, should take the time (and it is a hefty volume of 700 pages!) to read and absorb the comprehensive body of knowledge that Steven has organized around Product Management. If that sounds too daunting, be reassured by the fact that this is a reference book as well, so specific topics can be accessed easily without reading the entire book. Steven demonstrates his vast knowledge of the true scope of the Product Manager's role. After explaining the basics in the first module that goes through the Foundational Elements of Product Management, the Desk Reference then explains the myriad details that position the Product Manager as the end to end owner of the business. Starting with the market analysis of the industry and competition, he then moves onto the fundamental elements of the role by teaching customer need analysis, market segmentation, forecasting and product planning. However he doesn't forget that a Product Manager needs to be the champion who can keep the process moving along with the Product Development team as well as being able to persuasively argue the business case to management to justify the product investment. In particular, I appreciated that he sees the Marketing function as intricately linked to the Product with the Marketing Plan and details of the Launch synchronized together with the Communications Team and Sales Channels. In Module Four, he ups the ante with a clear-eyed explanation of auditing the launch results as input to running the business and going through the details of the entire lifecycle of Product Portfolio management, including End of Life. The book has accessible Executive Summaries at the start of each chapter as well as easy to read diagrams and charts and a section at the end of each chapter called PMEQ that are a series of questions and suggestions for raising a Product Manager's Product Management Experience Quotient. Finally, there are two modules at the end about how to be professional and develop your career as a Product Manager and how to develop your employees, if you manage Product Managers. Taking this advice together with the last module, which is a Toolbox for Product Managers, leaves the reader with a full compliment of tools to successfully and methodically manage products, whatever the industry. As an endnote, I liked the extensive glossary, references and resources section, bibliography and comprehensive index. This is the type of book that you will want to pick up often to check against an idea, template or list, so don't be surprised if it becomes dog eared as you find pages that you will want to get to quickly over and over again. This comprehensive guide should appeal to both neophyte product managers and those with experience, who just need to check

Great Product Management Resource

Steven Haines has does an amazing job of providing a resource that is useful to Product Managers regardless of experience level. The novice Product Manager would benefit from reading the book cover to cover to get a good understanding of what Product Management is about, where the experienced Product Manager can use it truly as a desk reference to get into the details when needed. With every company defining Product Management differently, Product Managers often end up being the catch all. Steven has done an excellent job of bringing a standard definition of the roles and responsibilities of this "accidental profession" to the industry, and provided a path along with tools to improve your skills within the product management profession. Short Answer: Buy this book and use it as the valuable resource it is. Brian Weber Product Manager Thomson Reuters

Keep this book in your office

As someone who's been a product manager since the world was young (and now consulting to product management organizations), I'd recommmend this Handbook to be on every PM's shelf. (At the office, where you can grab it when needed.) Steve has been doing/teaching about PM for a long time, and captured some very important insights and information in a great book.

A valuable resource for PM's in technology

Product managers, especially in technology, are asked to be all things to all stakeholders. Steven Haines captures practical experience from multiple sources and delivers a resource that is highly versatile for professionals working with complex products or services. Product Management is about making decisions that are critical to driving product development and performance in the market. The Product Manager's Desk Reference is the most comprehensive professional guide product manager's have at their disposal to hone their skills and deliver results. Michael J. Salerno Co-founder, Boston Product Management Association