Look, we’ve said it before. Product management sometimes feels like the Wild Wild West. And these days, as AI is integrated into our workflow more and more, product managers struggle to find the appropriate times and places to use it. I mean, is it ok to use AI at work, anyway? What about privacy or bias concerns? And what about relevant or appropriate answers to your prompts? These are often hard to navigate, but luckily it’s not impossible.
Before we start, it’s probably best to establish some best practices when you’re using ChatGPT at work–especially as a product manager.
Product managers rely on access to accurate and up-to-date information to make informed decisions about products, specifications, terminology, and construction processes. In this pursuit of knowledge, ChatGPT emerges as a valuable tool, functioning as a search engine that can quickly provide valuable insights and bridge knowledge gaps for product managers. With the ability to tailor prompts effectively, product managers can leverage ChatGPT to swiftly acquire the information they need and facilitate effective communication with diverse trades and specialists.
Using ChatGPT as a search engine offers product managers a unique advantage. It combines the power of language processing and artificial intelligence to process and generate responses based on a wide range of data and knowledge. By formulating prompts that are specific, clear, and concise, product managers can extract targeted information from ChatGPT's vast knowledge base. An example prompt may look:
Sometimes product managers struggle with transforming the sheer amount of information they obtain and sift through every day into succinct and well-written documents. It’s a hard task–think about your meeting minutes, bulleted notes, and roughly-sketched ideas.
ChatGPT is great at creating polished documents out of seemingly unconnected or brief notes. After ChatGPT has finished, product managers can receive a draft that can be refined and customized, resulting in a polished project plan. This process not only saves time and effort but also ensures a more comprehensive and coherent final deliverable.
Creating templates from scratch can be a time-consuming task for product managers. In this regard, ChatGPT emerges as a valuable tool, simplifying the documentation process by generating template texts for various purposes such as requests for proposals (RFPs), project plans, and feature lists. While customization and revision are still necessary, ChatGPT's assistance significantly expedites the initial drafting stage.
With the ability to understand and generate human-like text, ChatGPT can produce template texts that serve as a starting point for product managers. These templates can be based on common industry standards, best practices, or customized requirements.
ChatGPT's assistance in template creation offers several advantages. Firstly, it saves time and effort by providing a foundation for the documentation, eliminating the need to start from scratch. Secondly, it ensures consistency in documentation across different projects or teams, as templates provide a standardized structure and format. Lastly, it helps product managers focus on customizing and fine-tuning the template to align with their specific project requirements.
Communicating complex concepts to executives in a concise and understandable manner is a crucial skill for product managers. Often, executives need information presented in a way that is straightforward and easy to grasp–or information that should be easily digestible and quickly understood. ChatGPT's ability to generate human-like text and understand complex ideas makes it an excellent resource for simplifying concepts. Here’s an example:
In the pursuit of excellence in their deliverables, product managers understand the value of multiple iterations and refinements. However, generating initial drafts for various materials such as feature requirements, PRFAQs (Press Release Frequently Asked Questions), and strategies can be time-consuming. In such scenarios, ChatGPT proves to be an invaluable asset by swiftly producing preliminary drafts. By leveraging ChatGPT's capabilities, product managers can compare and select the best versions, kickstarting the editing process efficiently, saving time, and ensuring high-quality outputs.
ChatGPT's ability to generate human-like text makes it an ideal tool for iterative drafting. Product managers can provide specific prompts tailored to the materials they need to create, such as feature requirements, PRFAQs, or strategic documents. ChatGPT then generates initial drafts based on the prompts, providing a starting point that product managers can build upon. An example may look like:
With its wide array of applications and capabilities, ChatGPT empowers product managers to streamline their workflows, enhance collaboration, and unlock their creative potential. By leveraging ChatGPT as a search engine, drafting assistant, idea generator, and communication facilitator, product managers can embrace a more efficient, productive, and fulfilling approach to their daily work. Embrace the power of ChatGPT and revolutionize your product management journey.
