Learnings from Canada’s first Associate Product Manager Training Program
The Toronto Associate Product Management Program (APM) began as a capacity-building experiment to address a challenge faced by many software development teams: a lack of experienced product managers. Product manager roles typically require a significant level of experience in product design, business strategy, stakeholder management and managing software projects, and are typically filled by lateral hires from the ranks of experienced account managers, design and team leads. While experienced product managers remain in high demand, entry-level roles for product managers are scarce to non-existent.
This ‘career chasm’ led us to consider a cooperative approach. We weren’t the only digital product company struggling to find qualified product managers, nor did we didn’t have the resources to develop and manage a program on our own. But could a group of product companies collaborate and build and sustain an internal training program? If we worked together, could we to train and cultivate the next generation of product leaders? The short answer is yes.
The APM Toronto Program did just this, recently graduating its first cohort of keen, aspiring product managers after a six-month intensive program of community networking, supporting education and in-depth mentorship. The 12 ‘APM’s were exposed to weekly session topics, debates, case studies and mentorship from experts across industries and companies.
After wrapping up our first cohort and kicking off a new 2nd cohort of APMs this month, we would like to share some of the learnings from the first cohort and reflect back on what went well developing Canada’s first APM program.
Consistent Mentorship is Key to Developing Experience
The key to the program successfully developing were dedicated, qualified and eager mentors, who took the time to come weekly to get to know the cohort and offer support. An engaged mentor who is willing to give time and advice is usually the best teacher. Mentors were leading sessions, presenting during sessions, and were dedicating time outside of their working hours to help the cohort think through problems and ideas, catch issues outside of their scope of thinking and help the APMs figure out the questions they were not asking. APMs were exposed to product advice from experts weekly, giving them a different perspective across the industries, companies and personalities. By getting to know the cohort and offer their support, these dedicated mentors accelerated the APMs’ path to success. Consistent mentorship was a key element in creating the foundation for effective knowledge sharing at this level.
“One of the best parts of the program is the access you are given to mentors, and experienced product managers, each with different strengths and perspectives. You get to pick their brains and challenge ‘conventional wisdom’ together. Ultimately, the APM program gave me resources and the confidence I needed to accelerate my growth as a product manager. “
-Beatriz Yanez, PM at Freshbooks
Exposure to Confusion = 100% Increase in Confidence
We surveyed the Product Managers (PMs) throughout the cohort and after they graduated to get a sense of what gaps were existing in their knowledge and to develop the program further to anticipate these gaps. As someone new to the PM position, being exposed to different processes and tools can be daunting, it’s a never ending learning cycle where the thought of how much you don’t know and if you are doing it correctly can be overwhelming. Being exposed to mentors who helped work through problems and debate issues made the cohort realize there is not one way to do things, it really comes down to the ability to select the right tool for the right job. Recognizing that not even your senior peers have all the perfect answers eased the tension of conversation between seniors and APMs and allowed for an effective space to really address problems candidly. All of the candidates believed that at the end of the program their confidence to do their jobs had increased by 100%.
Some Experiences Cannot be Captured in a Classroom: Get out of the classroom
A lot of the feedback we received after our first cohort was that the most valuable lessons and learnings occurred in a non-traditional classroom setting. Debates and discussions would often continue well after the sessions were finished. The ongoing conversation between mentors and APMs allowed a safety net of support as PMs navigated the next stage of their careers. Some of the bonding between APMs and PMs was natural, but the program was designed to add in a bonding components such as a special dinner and game where the APMs were put on the spot to debate hard hitting questions about the future of product management and technology. APMs were also given a stipend to develop and product manage their own offsite weekend event and to manage every detail of their experience.
“On top of all the great education our APMs received, the program provided something even harder to come by in our craft — community and diversity. Product Management can be a very lonely job, and having a diverse group of peers who are going through the same learning curve as you, dealing with the same challenges, and whom you can talk openly with, is what really makes the program work.”
-Brandon Chu, Director of Product at Shopify
Mentors Got out of the Program Just as Much as the APMs
Although mentors were only required to attend a minimum of 6–12 sessions to distribute the load of the program, we found that a more than a handful mentors would attend religiously week after week. The in-depth discussions and debates over case studies from varying industries meant mentors gained knowledge out of the program as well. The APM program gave them a reason and a platform away from their busy schedules to share information with their own peers, and gave them an opportunity to practice collaborative problem solving for other industry problems, which many found to be a refreshing take on their own day to day.
“What makes the APM program unique from others is that it’s different companies with different styles of product management coming together as one. I’m learning a lot about how other companies work and building relationships with other product leaders that I wouldn’t have had previously”
-Breanna Hughes, Director of Product at League
The Learning Never Ends..Forever as a PM
You can’t create a PM in a bootcamp, you can’t create a PM in a classroom, and by no means can you create the best PMs over 24 sessions. Leadership skills and the intuition for creating products can take a lifetime to master. Programs such as APM help PMs get an early head start on their careers and help them to navigate self-directed learning. Programs can assist this learning by helping filter and funnel the onslaught of information which can leave new PMs confused and overwhelmed. In addition to hands-on mentorship we provided an in-depth reading list curated by the collective of senior mentors and a list of resources to find the quality information that helped APMs find their own path. The program itself provides all the tools a product manager needs in their toolbox. Knowing what tools to use is a mix of intuition and trial and error driven by the desire to find out what works. Teaching the details of technical information isn’t as important as having the desire and skill to find out how to find out what you don’t understand. We went into the program knowing that the best way we could help the PMs is to equip them to navigate their own self guided journey.
What’s next for APM Toronto
As we head into our second cohort we are building upon the learnings of the first to develop the best program for aspiring product managers. The challenges we faced were not always what we expected. Going into the first program, we anticipated issues with competing companies, the possibility of poaching candidates and disagreement of what topics to focus on in just 24 sessions. What we found was quite the opposite. Product leads were more than cooperative, partner companies were happy to share their best practises, every mentor put their best foot (and advice) forward, and collectively deciding on what topics to prioritize and develop for the curriculum was decided in a single session.
Seeing how different companies structure their product, practises and debates amongst mentors were some of the most valuable lessons that everyone received — including myself. A collective working together and cooperating on a program is possible if you have the right motivations in the room. The model works, and although it’s based off a Silicon Valley model, we definitely took a very Canadian, cooperative approach to the program.
Over the last year the response from the product community to the program has been overwhelming, and we are grateful to all those that have enabled this program to become a reality. As we begin our next cohort, we would like to welcome the following companies into the second cohort: TradeRev, Capital One, Rubikloud, Uppercase and Rangle.io. Returning to the APM program will be TWG, Shopify, Freshbooks, League, Chefhero, Wattpad and Roadmunk. We developed this program with the belief that it would take a village to build a successful, sustainable program and we’ve been supported by the whole community to grow the future of our product managers.
Bringing together a community to solve a long-standing problem that has impacted the growth of the industry is no easy feat. Each company had their own unique perspective, product philosophies and needs for their product teams. We are proud of the companies and people who stepped up to make this program reality and a success. Without their learnings and guidance we could not have made this program the success that it was.
At the end of the first cohort there was considerable interest from the broader product community, and we’ve had a number of cities reach out to us interested in starting a program of their own. In the spirit of recognizing that we have a mission to not only build up the Product capacity of Toronto but across the country we have created a playbook about our mission and how organizations and individuals can start their own APM program. We have already helped launch a program in Calgary this September and are aiming to launch more in the future. If you would like to discuss how to start a program in your own ecosystem feel free to reach out to myself and I would be happy to share more information. We are excited by the thought that this program could not only help our own city but inspire a better product community across Canada.
Contact me at oksana@twg.io
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