Reforge and On Deck experiences?

Hi Niels,

First, product management training can be helpful in speeding up your general understanding of the product practice, but it’s not a guarantee of anything. There are many programs out there and a lot of them pitch the idea of “becoming a PM” or “levelling up”. In a lot of cases the industry doesn’t care about these certifications, so it’s good you’re coming in with a mindset of wanting to do a better job and feel confident.

Second, some of these are re-packaging machines. You can often get the same content online, but it just hasn’t been packaged up. Much like a good book can communicate a number of concepts together, online courses can do the same and provide an immersive experience, but quality can vary.

Reforge’s training is industry-led. The reason it often attracts PMs is that it’s taught by a stellar cast of product leaders and tends to have high-quality content. I have a number of friends that have taken the Reforge training programs. On Deck brings in content from various folks as well, but I don’t have much I can share on their coursework quality.

Another path to consider would be a product coach, who can work alongside you and/or your team, to help level you up. Folks like Petra Wille who we had speak at our recent event are a good example. Happy to provide you with some Europe-based suggestions there if you want.

Anytime @Niels Vynckier,

Here’s some folks that I know of in EMEA:

• Petra Wille - who did our event last week. Looks like she’s full up on 1:1 but has group spots still available
• Robin Zaragoza - runs The Product Refinery
• Hilary Johnson
• Shaun Russell @shaunrussell is in our community too 😀
• Kate Leto
• Tim Herbig
• Petra Farm
• Tobias Freudenreich

@Ishani_Tagore what type of coaching are you looking for (some examples)? If you’re transitioning into PM, it would likely be better to employ a mentor rather than a coach. We’re planning to launch a mentoring program in our community soon, but there may be folks here willing to lean in and help too.

Re: Scrum/Agile, the Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) are well done. Has been a long time since I took one of those courses, but I know they are regularly updated and well done. Even our past speaker Jeff Gothelf spoke highly of them.

Thanks @hannahzhang for your reply!