As a project manager, you understand the importance of having both technical and non-technical skills. But what if you could take your project management skills to the next level by learning the basics of coding? A technical product manager understands how websites, web apps, databases, APIs, and webhooks work. With this knowledge, you can ask more informed questions of engineers and have a more hands-on approach to managing projects. Let’s explore why it’s important for non-technical PMs to learn to code and how to get started.
Exploring the Basics of Programming
So why is it important for non-technical product managers to learn the basics of coding? Understanding how websites and web apps work gives you a clear picture of how various components interact with each other. Knowing both frontend (what people see) and backend (the code that makes things happen) functions also helps. Additionally, having an understanding of databases like SQL enables you to quickly comprehend data models and their relationships between tables in a database. This knowledge will help you better understand engineering concepts such as APIs and Webhooks which are essential when creating complex systems.
Learning by Asking Questions
When it comes to learning engineering concepts, one great way is to find a senior engineer who can explain them on a whiteboard or in person while answering any questions you may have. Ask questions such as “What problems do we face when writing code?” “What are the most common developer mistakes?” “What tools do developers use?” You can also attend relevant talks or lectures in order to gain insight into how software works behind the scenes.
Moving Forward as a Technical PM
Once you have explored some basic programming concepts, the next step would be taking courses to apply what you have learned into practice. There are many resources available online for free such as CS50: Introduction to Computer Science, freeCodeCamp , Codecademy , and Udemy or Coursera options for coding skills improvement . These courses cover topics from basic computer science fundamentals all the way up advanced topics like machine learning algorithms – so there’s something for everyone!
Becoming an Effective Product Manager with Hands-On Experience
As your knowledge grows, so will your confidence in being able to ask questions about technical aspects related to your projects that may affect user experience or product development timelines. Additionally, hands-on experience can help you better visualize how your product works from an engineering perspective which will increase your understanding of customer needs even further. An example of hands-on experience could include developing small websites or apps yourself using HTML & CSS or JavaScript language – these two languages form the backbone of almost every website!
Conclusion:
By gaining knowledge about programming basics such as websites & web apps structure, databases & SQL query language structure along with APIs & Webhooks principles combined with practical experiences such as developing small websites or apps yourself using HTML & CSS or JavaScript language – non-technical PMs gain an advantage in both understanding customer needs deeply along with their ability ask more informed questions when working together with engineers on their projects thus becoming highly effective product managers themselves! It is definitely worth investing time into exploring those options!
