My Favorite Things: Essential Tools for Product Managers and Beyond
- Kelly Newman
- Feb 5
- 2 min read
As a product leader, I’m always on the lookout for tools that enhance decision-making, collaboration, and execution. Over time, I’ve found a handful of resources that have become indispensable in my workflow. Whether you’re managing a product roadmap, aligning cross-functional teams, or streamlining operations, these tools can make a world of difference. Here’s a roundup of my favorite things in the world of product and beyond.
Product Tools
These tools help product managers and teams build better products by offering insights, frameworks, and ways to track progress.
A powerhouse for product roadmapping, ProductBoard helps teams collect user feedback, prioritize features, and align strategy with execution. It integrates well with other tools, making it easier to turn ideas into actionable plans.
For those looking to understand user behavior and drive product adoption, Pendo is a must-have. It provides analytics, in-app guidance, and user feedback mechanisms to ensure your product delivers real value. Pendo also owns Mind The Product, an amazing source of product knowledge and training.
Jeff Patton’s Opportunity Canvas is a fantastic framework for exploring product opportunities. It helps teams think through customer problems, potential solutions, and business impact before diving into execution.
Building on Jeff Patton’s work, Ant Murphy’s Opportunity Canvas 2.0 refines the approach to opportunity analysis with streamlined approach, making it even easier for teams to evaluate ideas quickly.
A go-to for product management education, Pragmatic Institute offers training and frameworks that have shaped many successful product leaders. Their courses and methodology provide practical insights for managing products in dynamic environments. As a Pragmatic Institute alum, you get access to their community rich with tools to grow your skills.
Everybody Tools
Beyond product-specific tools, there are several that are universally useful for professionals across roles and industries.
Video content is more important than ever, and Synthesia makes it easy to create AI-generated videos for training, marketing, or internal communications without the need for professional production resources. Synthesia will cut hours out of your content development process.
A versatile database tool that combines the best of spreadsheets and databases, giving users the ability to create data tables on the fly and share input forms and offers pretty strong dashboarding capabilities for the cost. AirTable also provides a strong library of out of the box integrations making it a great tool for extending tools and processes you already have in place.
For businesses looking to streamline operations and wanting on on-premise solution, Exact Synergy offers workflow automation, document management, and collaboration tools to keep teams aligned and productive. With it's flexible framework, Exact Synergy provides solutions across the entire business landscape including HR, Sales, and Customer Support.
Final Thoughts
Having the right tools in your arsenal can make a significant difference in productivity, collaboration, and decision-making. Whether you’re a product manager, business leader, or team member looking for efficiency, these resources provide valuable support. What are your favorite tools? I’d love to hear about them!
Want to learn a bit more about these tools or other solutions that may fit your organization? Schedule your free 30 minute consult with KN Advisory.
Comments