Professional Product Management (PPM)
Upskill Program

Our in-house developed Professional Product Management™ (PPM) program is the empowerment of your product organization. Build the right solutions through excellent and exceptional product leadership. 

Any questions about the framework and how to tailor it?

Roy will gladly help you further with custom training solutions for your organization.

Upskill from beginner to leader 

01

With PPM, all your product employees start with their own learning journey, no matter which skills they possess or how much experience they have.  

A holistic learning framework 

02

The PPM framework consists of six core areas, each comprising various competencies and skills that can be assessed and achieved on multiple levels. 

Customized to your needs 

03

With the PPM Competency Assessment, you will get a clear overview of the current skills in your team and the skills gap that needs to be bridged to become future-ready. 

Moving product management forward 

Product management is a complex, yet amazing profession. Product Managers require a broad range of capabilities, knowledge, and competencies.  

However, becoming an expert takes more than a single course. It is a journey that requires gathering extensive knowledge as well as practical experience. Based on decades of experience in leading and transforming organizations, we have designed the Professional Product Management™ (PPM)  Competency Framework, covering all the capabilities a Product Owner, Product Manager, or Product Leader needs.  

We know how skills need to be developed to prepare for future jobs and advanced product management positions. Our learning journeys guide you through our training curriculum and the modules that form the PPM Framework. The framework consists of six core areas, each comprising various competencies and skills that can be assessed and achieved on multiple levels. The program will be tailored to your organization’s specific needs.  

Our assessments will provide you with the right insights about where your team is today. Afterward, the assessment will show the learning path of the team, measuring how the program has moved the team forward.  

The PPM approach

The Professional Product Management framework is a comprehensive learning framework that contains many different modules. To ensure you get the training that fits your organization best, we have a four-step approach that will help you receive a customized learning program and track the progress made during the program.

Try the free PPM QuickScan

Interested in experiencing the benefits of our PPM framework without any initial investment? Start with our PPM Quickscan—a free version of our assessment tool that provides a snapshot of your team’s capabilities.

Meet the trainers

Robbin Schuurman

Robbin Schuurman is a trainer (PST), Professional Product Management creator and product leader at Xebia Academy.

Willem Vermaak

Meet Willem Vermaak, a trainer and author at Xebia Academy. Willem is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) and teaches you all about Product Management.

Ready to Transform Your Product Team?

Contact our Business Developer, Roy Vulto, today to discuss how our PPM Self-Assessment can be a game-changer for your organization. Get in touch and take the first step towards unparalleled product management excellence.

Yes, I want to get in touch

LIane Cornelissen

Platform Product Owner – Innerspace

Liane is a product owner at Innerspace. She loves to bridge the gap between business and IT and between people and technology.

Inerspace builds and provides VR training modules. With their data insights, Innerspace makes its training and certification programs visible.

“Xebia Academy helped us speak about and discuss our customers, industry challenges, and vision on the same wavelength. Within the product and leadership team, we would usually discuss these topics on different levels of detail and view (operational vs strategic). So, it was key for us to be able to find a common language and wavelength when we talk about our product and company vision.”

Creating your learning program

PPM™ offers you a wide range of training modules, ranging from ‘Stakeholder Management’ to ‘Value Maximization’, and from ‘Envisioning & Storytelling’ to ‘Product Strategy & Roadmaps’. All modules cover the competences, knowledge, and skills to make professionals more successful. 

Each training module offers a mix of learning styles, from self-study to instructor-led classroom training and from individual exercises to group working sessions. Students will learn, apply, evaluate, and create knowledge and experience together. Knowledge that matters for their daily work and helps them make an impact.

All modules are practical and focused on being effective and efficient in your daily practice. The modules follow the six competency areas:

  1. Product
  2. Process
  3. Business
  4. Market
  5. People
  6. Leadership

Product Modules

Product One

Product Strategy and Product Roadmaps

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Developed a Product Strategy for their product, with Product Goals and/or Objectives & Key Results.
  • Developed a Goal-Oriented Product Roadmap for their product, driven by their Product Strategy.

Product Two

Agile Portfolio Management, Product Management, and Product Development

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been fully developed.

Product Three

Prioritization and Requirements Management

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

Product Four

Product Quality, Security and Compliance

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

Process Modules

Process One

Creating Valuable Data Products

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Adequate knowledge of data and analytics to have successful interactions with data analysts and data scientists.
  • Created a Analytics Solution Design Canvas.
  • Formulated key questions to discuss with data professionals to finalize solution design and roadmap.

Process Two

Testing, Experimentation, and Validation

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

Process Three

Product Launch and Product Marketing

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

Business modules

Business One

Value Maximization and Product Analytics

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Developed a (concept) Value & Product Analytics Dashboard, to enable value steering and become a value-driven Product Owner/Manager/Leader.
  • Developed a Value Estimation session together with stakeholders, to prioritize initiatives, ideas, or features.

Business Two

Financial Awareness and Planning

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Developed a budget forecast for their product/team.
  • Developed a business case for (large) product or business initiatives.

Leadership modules

Leadership One

Influencing, Politics, and Stakeholder Management

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Developed a tailored and structured approach for analyzing and understanding their stakeholders.
  • Developed a stakeholder engagement strategy.
  • Developed/Improved relationships with stakeholders.
  • Tools to deal with complex stakeholder situations.

Leadership Two

Envisioning, Storytelling and Product Advocacy

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • A deeper and broader understanding of their product, business strategy, customers/users, and domain.
  • A well-defined product vision, based on customer, user, market, and business insights and drivers.
  • A pitch, to communicate vision through storytelling.

Market Modules

Market One

Product Discovery and Design Thinking

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been fully developed.

Market Two

Market Research and Competitor Analysis

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

Market Three

Product- and User Experience Design

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

People Modules

People One

Vendor Management, Relationship Management and (Agile) Contracting

On completion of this module, learners will have…

  • Final results and outcomes are to be determined, as this training module has not yet been developed fully.

Training formats

We offer training in any preferred format and at any preferred partner. Whether you prefer classroom learning, blended learning, or e-learning, we will create the best, tailored learning solution, together.

Classroom Training

Classroom, instructor-led training draws on a mix of dynamic lectures and hands-on assignments to make learning fun and interactive.

Online Training

Online, instructor-led training uses a combination of different tools and scenes to provide the optimal experience.

E-learning

The PPM program includes self-learning modules that your team members can learn online at their own pace.

Trusted by global enterprises

Why would you
upskill your people?

With new technologies developing at lightning speed and a challenging job market, finding and retaining the right people is a daunting task.

However, there’s a shortage in skills rather than a shortage in people. That’s why 50% of all employees will have to upskill within the coming five years, World Economic Forum already warned us.

Upskilling your employees is the best solution to bridge that skills gap. We know that upskilling will lift your employees’ spirit and give them a sense of belonging, knowing their employer invests in them.

Similarly, talented people are attracted to organizations willing to invest in their personal development. Ultimately, upskilling is between 72% and 90% cheaper than hiring new talent.

Benefits of upskilling your organization

Boost business results with improved skills.

Enhance employee belonging and satisfaction.

Improve employee retention.

Increase team efficiency.

Attract new talent.

Prepare for future changes.

Meet the trainers

Robbin Schuurman

Robbin Schuurman is a trainer (PST), Professional Product Management creator and product leader at Xebia Academy.

Willem Vermaak

Meet Willem Vermaak, a trainer and author at Xebia Academy. Willem is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) and teaches you all about Product Management.

Sjoerd Nijland

Sjoerd is the founder of Serious Scrum and Road to Mastery and a trainer at Xebia Academy.  

Ask me anything!

Get in touch with Roy Vulto, Business Developer at Xebia Academy. He’ll be happy to help you!

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