As a project manager, you’re always looking for ways to get better: to improve your own productivity, better guide your employees, and better understand all the demands being made of you. As the end of the year approaches, you still have plenty of chances to improve yourself! Check out some of these great titles to learn more about yourself, your skills, and how to improve your productivity and your employees’.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen: If you’ve ever wanted simple, actionable advice about how to increase organization and improve your ability to get things done throughout your organization, this is the guide for you. This simple guide provides key points and great theories that will help improve your organizational ability and make you a better leader throughout your organization.
Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan: There’s something about quality products that is just a little different from the way normal tech companies handle product creation and releases, at least according to Marty Cagan. If you want to know how the tech giants do it, Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love will help you learn how to create those processes throughout your organization.
Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers (Collins Business Essentials) by Geoffrey Moore: In this latest edition of a classic marketing book, Geoffrey Moore covers the key details associated with marketing to technical markets. Moore also focuses on the difference between the early adopters in an industry, who are among the first out of the gate, and the early majority, who wait until there’s a chance to figure out how the market is going to move before making key decisions.
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries: Eric Ries acknowledges that the majority of startups simply fail–but he also sees how many of those failures are preventable. In this book, you’ll learn how to improve your odds of success as a startup while developing techniques that will help you maintain any business no matter what stage it’s in.
Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal: You don’t just want to create great products. You want to create products that keep your customers coming back for more–and Nir Eyal’s title will allow you to do exactly that. Instead of simply creating another product in your industry, you’ll create products that your customers simply can’t live without–and they’ll reward you by investing heavily in your business.
The Product Manager’s Desk Reference 2E by Steven Haines: As a project manager, you want to establish yourself as a capable, cutting-edge individual who contributes heavily to your company’s success–and The Product Manager’s Desk Reference will help you do exactly that. Filled with fantastic tools that will help establish you as a solid project manager, this volume will give you helpful hints and tips that will improve your productivity and management skills.
High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove: If you’re looking for advice on project management solutions, you’ll find that High Output Management will offer solid, actionable advice that will help you more effectively manage the challenges in front of you.
Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology by Gayle Laakmann McDowell & Jackie Bavaro: As a beginner, it can be difficult to break into the field and get started–but Cracking the PM Interview will help you learn how to get that first job in project management or change your current position.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been established in product management for a long time, you want to be sure that you stay on the cutting edge of your industry. With this reading list, you’ll learn more about your industry and improve your status at your job as you show your company just how valuable you can be. In order to streamline your product development even more, try Z-Stream, an amazing project management app that combines all the features that you need to manage your teams & projects in one package.
