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❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to the most common questions about PM Skills.

General

Do I need to use all 103 skills?

No. Most PMs regularly use 5-10 skills. Start with the ones that match your immediate needs:

  • New to PM → Start with problem-statement, user-story, and prioritization-advisor
  • Experienced PM → Jump to the skills for your current challenge
  • Learning PM → Work through one domain per week

Which AI tool should I use?

See the quick decision guide:

Your situation Best choice
"I want the quickest start" Paste into any AI chat
"I use Claude regularly" Claude Desktop/Web
"I use ChatGPT regularly" ChatGPT Projects
"I want the best quality" Claude Code or Gemini CLI
"I want reusable team tools" ChatGPT Custom GPTs

Can I use PM Skills with any AI, not just the listed ones?

Yes. PM Skills are plain Markdown files. Any AI that can read text can use them. The tool-specific guides are optimization tips, not requirements.

Is PM Skills free?

Yes. The entire skill library is open source. The AI tools you use with it may have their own costs.

Using Skills

How do I know which skill to use?

Three ways:

  1. By task — Check the Getting Started table that maps "I want to..." to skills
  2. By domain — Browse the Catalog organized by PM lifecycle stage
  3. By trigger — Each skill's YAML frontmatter lists natural language triggers

What's the difference between Component, Interactive, and Workflow skills?

Type Behavior Think of it as...
🧱 Component Fill-in template → artifact A form + checklist
🔄 Interactive Q&A → customized guidance → artifact A consultation
🎭 Workflow Multi-phase process → multiple artifacts A guided project

Can I use multiple skills in one session?

Yes. See Skill Chaining & Workflows for patterns. The basic approach:

Complete Skill A → use its output as input for Skill B → continue to Skill C

What does the Quality Rubric score mean?

Score Quality What to do
9-10 Excellent Share with stakeholders confidently
7-8 Good Fix the lowest dimension, then share
5-6 Needs work Revise 2+ dimensions
< 5 Start over Add more context, re-read the skill

The AI isn't following the skill format. What do I do?

Add this instruction at the start of your conversation:

Follow the uploaded skill file's sections in strict order: 
Purpose → Key Concepts → Application → Examples → Quality Rubric → Pitfalls.
Use the fill-in templates from the Application section exactly as written.
Self-score every output against the Quality Rubric.

Customization

Can I modify skills for my team?

Absolutely. Skills are Markdown files — fork the repo and customize:

  • Add your product's context to examples
  • Adjust quality rubric dimensions for your standards
  • Add team-specific pitfalls you've encountered
  • Modify templates to match your internal formats

Can I create my own skills?

Yes. See Building Your Own Skill for the full guide. Use the SKILL_TEMPLATE.md to get started.

Can I combine multiple skills into one custom skill?

You can, but it's better to use skill chaining instead. Single skills that try to do too much produce worse output than focused skills chained together.

How do I keep skills updated?

If you cloned the repo, pull the latest changes:

git pull origin main

If you uploaded files, re-download updated versions from the repository.

Skill Quality

Why do some skills produce better output than others?

Three factors:

  1. Context provided — more context = better output
  2. AI model capability — more capable models produce better results
  3. Skill complexity — beginner skills are more straightforward; advanced skills need more context to shine

How do I improve output quality?

  1. Add context — product, market, team, constraints
  2. Use the rubric — generate → score → fix weak dimensions → regenerate
  3. Try a better model — GPT-4o/Claude Sonnet/Gemini Pro for complex skills
  4. Chain skills — use a discovery skill before a specification skill

Are the frameworks in skills always correct?

Skills are based on widely-recognized PM frameworks (RICE, Kano, OKRs, JTBD, etc.), but:

  • Frameworks are tools, not rules — adapt them to your context
  • No framework fits every situation — the "When NOT to Use This" sections help avoid misapplication
  • External references in each skill link to original sources for deeper learning

Contributing

How can I contribute a new skill?

  1. Read Building Your Own Skill
  2. Copy SKILL_TEMPLATE.md
  3. Create your skill in skills/[domain]/[skill-name]/SKILL.md
  4. Follow the quality checklist
  5. Submit a PR

What skills are missing?

Look for domains with fewer skills or gaps in the Catalog. Common requests:

  • Industry-specific adaptations (fintech, healthcare, marketplace)
  • More workflow skills (Growth and Analytics domains have none currently)
  • Advanced leadership skills (board management, M&A product integration)

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