The top 5 tools & resources every product manager needs in their toolbox

office tasks

If ever there’s a Greek Titan the product manager can be compared to, it would be Atlas. Just like the legendary hero, the product manager carries the weight of the organization on their shoulders.

After all, your businesses success lies in the success of the product.

Responsible for the why, what, when, and where of a product, the product manager leads cross-functional teams responsible for a product from conception to launch. Post-launch, the product manager also has to participate in marketing and gathering customer feedback.

That is why as a product manager, you’ll need a toolbox with tools and resources to help you keep tabs on everything happening from ideation to release.

Here are the top 8 tools to help you do exactly that.

5 Tools Every Product Manager Needs to have in their Toolbox

So you’re ready to be the greatest product manager the world has ever known. In order to do that, you will need the best tools for the job. Fortunately, we know which ones will serve you well.

Trello

Tracking where each part of the project is and who is responsible is vital to the success of a project.  Trello can be the perfect visualization of tasks that need to get done and who is currently responsible.

Using Trello, you can create cards with specific tasks on them. You can then assign them to a team member and set a date. Then, cards are organized in columns such as “not started,” “working on,” or “complete.”   Team members can then instantly see where each tasks sits without disturbing the rest of the team.

Not only does it help you keep everything organized, but it makes it easy to collaborate with those involved at every level of the product’s journey. While Trello can be very visuals, PMs may also use Asana and Jira for projects with more details.

Slack

As a product manager, you need to be in communication with several different teams. You may be checking in with the development team, while understanding the needs from sales. For that reason, it is important that you have a reliable and efficient tool to facilitate real-time communication within and between those departments.

One of the hottest solutions for PMs right now is Slack.

Slack allows for instant messaging to individuals and to teams. It also prevents the buildup of emails and instant provides a quick way to check in with a team or ask a question.

Slack can integrate with several other tools including Trello so the team can be automatically updated as tasks move.  While Slack is super popular right now, another option might be Basecamp.

Survey Monkey

When it comes to external communications, one of the best ways to gather information from your customers (pre and post-production) is through surveys.

A vital part of any product release is understanding what customers like about it and what is not working.   SurveyMonkey is one tool that leaps to the occasion when it comes to collecting customer feedback.

For example, after releasing a new feature, you could send a survey out to a few customers and ask if they like or dislike the new feature. In addition to yes or no responses, you can provide multi-choice and written responses so they can provide their thoughts.

Not only can surveys help you understand your customers, asking for their opinion can make them feel like a valuable member of your team.

DesignerHire

Design is increasingly crucial to successful product.  The right designer will create a powerful and successful experience for the customer and can even improve click-through-rates and check-outs.  Yet, knowing what type of designer you need and then finding that team member can be challenging and time consuming.

DesignerHire can help you through the process of finding the right designer. First, you will tell the platform what type of designer you’re looking for (UI, UX, web or App). Then, you will answer a series of questions before DesignHire matches you with the best hiring platform to find the right designer. Platforms they feature include Toptal, UpWork, 99Designs, Working Not Working and others. The website ensures you get quality and trustworthy designers without spending weeks doing your own search across a number of hiring platforms.

Hotjar

Once you’ve launched your product, it’s important to know how your customers interact with it. Hotjar helps you see exactly how your customers behave on your website by building heatmaps and conversion funnels.  By reviewing this data you can see where customers are engaging and where they are dropping off. Using the visitor recording feature you can watch as users navigate through your site and identify unexpected behaviors.

If your product is an app, Appsee is a great tool for getting all the analytics on your customer’s UX.

Product Management Tools – For the Sake of Sanity

Without these (and more) product management tools in your utility belt, running your team, creating an excellent product, and marketing it would be next to impossible. Equip yourself with the best tools of the trade and win back your sanity.