Women in ProductCornell

Certificate Program

To be successful, product managers need a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They also need a clear sense of the required skills and competencies. An appreciation of the roles, responsibilities, and requisite capabilities of this important position is also beneficial for stakeholders and team members who need to work closely with product managers.

This course lays the foundation for success in product management by exploring a product manager's position in an organization and the key associated responsibilities. You will examine the specific skills and competencies most likely to lead to success in carrying out those responsibilities. To further improve your understanding of product management, you will consider how product managers typically work with a product team and other stakeholders to develop successful products, whether they be digital products, hardware, or service offerings.

Before a product is developed, product managers must know how to organize and manage a team. They must understand the typical product development lifecycle and be able to select an appropriate development methodology. They must lead the process of identifying and embracing core principles and values appropriate for their team, and they must engage effectively with stakeholders and funding sources.

This course will help build skills in the “nuts and bolts” of product team leadership. You will consider the typical phases of product development and the roles that are involved in each step of the development process. You'll look at possible team structures and the importance of a team charter. You'll survey a number of product development methodologies. Finally, you'll explore ways to foster a dynamic team culture, run effective team meetings, and keep a product team motivated and focused on shared goals.

You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Preparing for Success as a Product Manager

Products can only be successful if they address the real needs of customers. Product managers must lead a team effort to research customer needs and propose products that address those opportunities in innovative ways.

This course will guide you through the steps that effective product managers take to propose a product, research the market, begin work on a product roadmap, and identify and analyze specific needs that will inform the design process. You will explore the importance of user stories and develop personas that represent your potential customers.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Preparing for Success as a Product Manager
• Managing Product Teams

After customer needs are identified, product managers must lead a team effort to decide how a new or revamped product can best meet those needs. They must translate customer insights into specific design ideas and establish priorities for the design and development process. They must develop a convincing business case and win the support of stakeholders and funding sources.

This course will guide you through the process that effective product managers use to develop and prioritize design ideas based on customer research. You will see how product roadmaps are updated as ideas are refined. You will develop a business case, explore ways of winning buy-in for your project from the people whose support is essential to success, and develop a product charter.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Preparing for Success as a Product Manager
• Managing Product Teams
• Identifying and Targeting Customer Needs

When customer needs have been analyzed and broad priorities have been set for product development, actual design and development can commence. The design process often uses a variety of methods to hammer out increasingly detailed plans. After these plans are validated, development work begins.

This course will start you on the design and development process by showing you how to document detailed project requirements. You will see how to develop prototypes of increasing precision. You will explore how to seek and evaluate design feedback from customers. Finally, you will consider a range of development issues and best practices, including the use of sprints, the establishment of appropriate infrastructure, progress tracking, and working with remote and third-party teams.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Preparing for Success as a Product Manager
• Managing Product Teams
• Identifying and Targeting Customer Needs
• Prioritizing for Product Roadmaps

After a product has been developed, the product manager must bring it to market and manage the product lifecycle as it evolves. The PM must work with other departments to sustain and improve the product over time and must take steps to retire the product at the right time.

This course will show you how to prepare for product launch through close coordination with key departments like marketing, operations, sales, and quality assurance. You will explore ways to build up to an effective mass product launch, and then track and manage the product in the market after launch. You will see how to work with your colleagues in other departments to ensure appropriate growth in product features as well as market viability. Finally, you will reflect on the decisions and steps needed when “sunsetting” a product at the end of its lifecycle.

You are required to have completed the following courses or have equivalent experience before taking this course:

• Preparing for Success as a Product Manager
• Managing Product Teams
• Identifying and Targeting Customer Needs
• Prioritizing for Product Roadmaps
• Designing and Developing Products

Most women in a leadership role face a very common dilemma: If she's a strong, assertive leader, she's viewed as domineering and abrasive, encountering resistance as a result. If she isn't assertive enough, she's viewed as weak and a pushover, making it hard to get support within the organization. In this course, you will examine that very common double standard and identify strategies to deal with it.

All leaders, regardless of gender, face conflict and resistance and have to work with people who think, act, and communicate differently from themselves. In this course, Deborah Streeter, the Bruce F. Failing, Sr., Professor of Personal Enterprise at Cornell, will show you how to recognize when there's gender bias at play and when there isn't, and how to address any issues that arise.

Many women say they would rather go to the dentist than negotiate for themselves. Why? Women are taught early to create equity in relationships. When you negotiate with someone and you feel that you're taking something away from them, that feels like a violation of the social contract with which you were raised. There's little wonder, then, that negotiation feels deeply uncomfortable for many women.

Yet negotiating is a critical skill that everyone, especially women, has to practice and master in order to be an effective leader. In this course from Cornell Professor Deborah Streeter, you will practice key behaviors that help negotiations, including asking for what you want — something most women are not taught to do. The course emphasises the gender dimension of negotiation strategies and the critical skills on which women leaders in particular need to focus. This course will be most helpful for women leaders who are not already practiced and comfortable in negotiation settings, and those who find negotiating stressful, uncomfortable, and difficult. Negotiating is a routine part of daily life and leadership, and approaching it with confidence and skill signals that you know your worth.

Research shows that emotional intelligence is a critical predictor of performance as well as a very strong driver of leadership and personal excellence. Those with high emotional intelligence can typically read a room quickly, clue into subterfuge, and more easily show respect and empathy. While soft skills such as those may not sound impressive, they can be imperative for a woman in a leadership role. You can be a top performer without any emotional intelligence, but the numbers are against you.

In this course from Professor Deborah Streeter, women leaders can develop their emotional intelligence and learn how to use it to their advantage to manage their team to greater success.

Research shows that feedback is critical for leaders and that creating a culture of feedback is key to a team's success. The more successful a team is, the better an organization's bottom line. However, there is an art to giving and receiving feedback, and if not done properly, feedback can have a negative impact to morale. Conversely, teams who receive feedback in a positive, supportive way will strive to continue to do well.

There can be a gender dimension to giving and receiving feedback that is critical for women in leadership roles to understand, as men and women react differently. In this course, Professor Deborah Streeter will examine the gender dimensions of giving and receiving feedback and explore strategies for working as effectively as possible to lead a high-performing team.

Symposium sessions feature three days of live, highly interactive virtual Zoom sessions that will explore today’s most pressing topics. The Leadership Symposium offers you a unique opportunity to engage in real-time conversations with peers and experts from the Cornell community and beyond. Using the context of your own experiences, you will take part in reflections and small-group discussions to build on the skills and knowledge you have gained from your courses.

Join us for the next Symposium in which we’ll discuss the ways that leaders across industries have continued engaging their teams over the past two years while pivoting in strategic ways. You will support your coursework by applying your knowledge and experiences to relevant topics for leaders. Throughout this Symposium, you will examine different areas of leadership, including innovation, strategy, and engagement. By participating in relevant and engaging discussions, you will discover a variety of perspectives and build connections with your fellow participants from various industries.

Upcoming Symposium: February 11, 12 and 13, 2025 from 11am – 1pm ET

• Tuesday, February 11, 2025 11am – 1pm ET
• Wednesday, February 12, 2025 11am – 1pm ET
• Thursday, February 13, 2025 11am – 1pm ET

All sessions are held on Zoom.

Future dates are subject to change. You may participate in as many sessions as you wish. Attending Symposium sessions is not required to successfully complete any certificate program. Once enrolled in your courses, you will receive information about upcoming events. Accessibility accommodations will be available upon request.