Professional development trends
- 20% of respondents did no professional development (down from 33% in 2022)
- Top 3 most recommended courses:
- ○ Reforge
- ○ Colab
- ○ Marty Cagan’s Course (held in person in Australia last year)
- Product Aotearoa Conference was the #1 recommended opportunity for learning (possible bias due to
promotion of the survey at the conference) - Less employers paying, perhaps a reflection of tighter company budgets esp. in tech
Check out our updated list of learning resources
Key highlights from the comments
Positive:
● The conference was well-organized and a great start for the NZ product community.
● Many attendees appreciated the opportunity to connect with other product professionals.
● People found the conference content valuable and inspiring.
Areas for Improvement:
● Content: The industry can suffer from too many recycled topics and leaders who can appear to lack
recent practical experience. Some requested more specific product management (PM) courses and
content targeted towards senior product leaders.
● Training: There’s a desire for accredited PM courses, with a preference for locally developed materials
due to their relevance. Company sponsorship for such courses would be appreciated.
● Global vs. Local Focus: The selection of resources available seem skewed towards the US. People
would like to see more options from Asia, Europe, and of course, New Zealand.
Additional Notes:
● Some found value in informal learning methods like attending conferences, following industry leaders,
and on-the-job experience.
Comments
❖ Amazing!!!
❖ Conference was awesome!
❖ Great conference, keep up the great work!
❖ Great convention team, thanks for going to the effort!
❖ GSDA rocks!
❖ I definitely prefer local materials. The content is more relevant for our situation that a lot of the overseas ones. Plus usually more affordable!
❖ I just hang out with my friends and read lots of resources online than go through any formal PM training
❖ I noticed a lot of US offerings your selection list – there’s lots of great education in Asia and Europe as well! And in Aotearoa, of course
❖ I think there’s a gap in coaching/learning/knowledge sharing specifically for executive product leaders. (VPs, SVPs, Heads of Product, CPOs,
people who are the most senior product leaders in their org. I’m about to kick off a new Slack group and start inviting
leaders in my network to it. Happy to do this alongside Product Aotearoa if that’s of interest?
❖ I’m new to the product community, and it was great to see and meet so many friendly and super smart people at the conference!
❖ Loved this so much! Cannot wait for next year!
❖ Onwards and Upwards
❖ Thanks for a great conference!
❖ Thanks for getting the NZ product community together – a great start.
❖ Too many recycled topics, some of the “trainers” have little to no practical experience. Even the big speakers, most barely do product anymore
and the talks usually are very high level. I have been struggling quite a bit to find a good training for someone who is a SPM trying to move up the
ranks. Lots of foundation courses though.
❖ Well organised conference
❖ While I haven’t done any of the above, Trimble have bought on GSDA and I’ve been to 3 trainings in the last 12 months. Additionally I follow Rich
Mirinov and Marty Caghan – videos, books etc
❖ Would love to do specific PM courses but company isn’t offering any and while I’m interested in learning I can’t pay for it myself. Additionally I
keep learning new skills on the job which keeps it interesting however an accredited course would be great
❖ You guys were awesome!