Product operations keeps a product working well for the people who rely on it between releases. Adverts in Ghana and across West Africa for product operations associates, product support officers and implementation roles list duties such as onboarding clients, training users, writing documentation and procedures, resolving issues and working with engineers on fixes. These are skills you can start practising now.
Onboarding
Onboarding is getting a new user or client organisation from "signed up" to "getting value". Good onboarding:
- Has a clear first goal, such as "make your first sale" or "register your first ten households".
- Removes setup steps that are not needed yet.
- Checks in after a few days to catch people who got stuck.
For business clients, onboarding may include setting up accounts, importing their data and agreeing who to call for help.
Training
Training works best when it is practical and short. Show the task, let people try it on their own phones, then let them teach each other. Use the language people are most comfortable in. For field staff or agents, a printed one page guide with pictures and a short voice note on WhatsApp can work better than a long manual.
Help guides and SOPs
- A help guide or FAQ answers user questions: "How do I withdraw my savings?"
- An SOP tells staff how to handle a situation consistently: "What to do when a customer reports a missing payment."