The Product Manager's Desk Reference

I was looking for a book that does the following;1. relate my practical experience to frameworks, where I could use to review and re-engineer (if need be) the current practices in the company2. codify (put in writing) concepts that I know and experience in my work place3. Introduce me to new ideas and concepts or appreciate current ideas in a different way.I though this book was the closest to have made this a reality. I think this book has a good balance for professional product marketers and academics.The book is a little thicker that my other books, but I do like its format (size of letters, illustrations, tables), since they are very easy to follow.

There is a world of literature and guidance in the domain of New Product Development and to a lesser degree existing Product Management. As a practitioner for more than 10 years, I, like most of my peers was not born a product manager but rather evolved into the role.If I could have had The Product Manager's Desk Reference 10 years ago, I would have been able to avoid years of discovering what it is I was supposed to be doing! Even for someone like myself who has practiced as a Product Manager for some time, this book is just what it's title states, a great Desk Reference. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a comprehensive description of the role and an ACTIONABLE set of processes and templates.Ernie Harris, President - Tampa Bay PDMA [...].

This book has been helpful for me throughout on my job.

This comprehensive desk reference is mandatory reading for my global team. We have taken the concepts and applied them in developing a global service business focusing on the consumer and our service value proposition. I would recommend this desk reference to all product management and marketing professionals as a "first read" before they begin any work on their products or services. Knowing why they are doing what they are suppose to be doing is critically important to the success of their business. it has been my experience as a business leader after having invested in reading it cover to cover. Well done Steven!

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 book goes trough everything that relates to product management. It has good points and thoughts, but sometimes it is a bit too simplified.. I would have understood the point with less convincing. Maybe you should not try to read it rough, but try to find direct hints your daily tasks.. but, good book!

Steven Haines is an absolute genius, especially when it comes to Product Management. I have read all of his 3-part series for Product Management and hope to attend one of the Sequent Learning Networks Product Management Training Sessions (Haines owns Sequent Learning Networks).The book outlines everything that you need to know to be effective as a Product Manager. Now, with the knowledge I've gained through reading this book, I actually teach Senior Product Managers some great techniques that this book discusses.

This book is very well written and addresses all the important elements of product management, from competitive analysis to customer insights and product development processes. It is very easy to read and provides an excellent overview of the key responsibilities of a product manager.On the downside, the author could have featured more detailed "real life" case studies. I still give the book a 5-star rating because it will keep you engaged and teach you a lot about product management.

X was going for a job interview in the USA. I bought this for him so that he could prepare for the kind of questions he would encounter and get a deeper, more practical knowledge of the role. I browsed the book and realised that of all the books I've ever come across that deal with product marketing this one was the most practical and useful of them all. Written by a man who has been there, done that, got the T-shirt, I can't recommend it too highly. It was significant that X saw that it featured in the offices of many of the people who were involved in assessing him. He didn't get the job, which went to a much more highly-qualified man, but has since been promoted to European Product Marketing Manager for a major US manufacturer. I like to think that buying him this book helped.

First impressions: this is a top-to-tail covering of what's involved in product management. The desk reference is certainly correct: it's a (physically) big book with a hard cover - not something that easily fits into a laptop bag.The early chapters provide more in the way of introductory text, which would probably benefit a starting Product Manager. Later chapters are much more reference-y. Every chapter ends with "increase your PMQ (Product Manager Quotient)" - things to put the topics covered by the chapter into practice.While I haven't read it cover to cover, I shall certainly be dipping into various chapters for inspiration on various activities (e.g. market research, product launches).I've been in product manager and similar roles for a number of years now. I really could have benefited with a book like this from the start - I certainly expect to draw some benefits from it from now on.

Yes, its pricey. But as a new or experienced product manager you will get value out of this book. The role of product management can be very very broad and dependent on your company, its structure and supporting roles you'll need to refer to it to remind yourself how to position a product and also how to educate new members of a product team.

This really a great book for all product managers. I ought when it came out and have continuously returned to it. It has also proven itself a the principle book for product management training and basis for defining product management in a company

Great read - recommended.