Beyond ChatGPT: Custom GPTs as a tool for product managers

In the rapidly evolving world of technology, a groundbreaking advancement has emerged, promising to enhance our professional lives significantly. OpenAI’s latest innovation, Custom GPTs, is about to make our lives much easier. This article delves into the nuances of Custom GPTs, illustrating how they can be a pivotal tool for product managers in streamlining their workflow and achieving unparalleled efficiency.

Why Custom GPTs are a Game-Changer

Imagine having a tool tailored just for you, understanding your role, mission, and challenges like a seasoned team member. That’s what Custom GPTs bring to the table. This feature lets us create versions of ChatGPT that are fine-tuned to our specific needs, combining instructions, knowledge, and skills in a unique blend. It’s like having a personalized digital assistant who gets you.

The Traditional Challenge with ChatGPT

We’ve all been there — spending precious time setting the context for ChatGPT, which is, admittedly, an important step in ensuring accurate and relevant responses.

• Who does it represent?
• What’s our mission?
• What are the expected outcomes?
• Steps to our goal?
• And other crucial info for quality outputs.

But let’s face it, it’s time-consuming, and sometimes, we might even skip steps, resulting in less than stellar results.

Simplifying Workflows with Custom GPTs

Custom GPTs directly tackle these challenges. So, let’s look at three steps that might help streamline this process for you.

1. Map Common Tasks: First, identify the regular tasks you manage often using ChatGPT.
2. Develop Context-Specific GPTs: Create a Custom GPT tailored to the appropriate context for each identified task.
3. Choose the Appropriate GPT for Each Task: Select the most fitting GPT variant for your current requirement.

Practical Examples for PMs

1. Email Assistant: Enter your professional role, the nature of your company’s business, and your preferred communication style (formal, informal, concise, detailed, etc.). The assistant will then craft emails that are specifically tailored to your role and communication preferences.
2. Customer Support: Upload or integrate your product’s documentation and frequently asked questions (FAQs). The assistant will use this information to provide accurate, context-specific responses to customer inquiries, enhancing support efficiency.
3. Feature Writing: Provide the specific format or template you use for feature writing, along with guidelines and any relevant details about the feature (target audience, functionality, integration with other features, etc.). The assistant will generate well-structured feature descriptions or documents based on these inputs.
4. User Feedback Analyzer: This GPT can sift through large volumes of user feedback from various channels, categorize them, and provide summaries and actionable insights, helping PMs in decision-making and prioritization.

Your Guide to Creating the First Custom GPT

Building your first Custom GPT is more straightforward than you might expect:

1. Visit the ChatGPT main page and select “Explore GPTs” or directly access this link.

Select “Explore GPTs”.

2. Click on “Create” or navigate to the editor.

Click Create in the top right corner.

3. Initiate your Assistant’s creation using the Prompt screen. For example, an Email Assistant. Customize it with a unique name and logo, or opt for ChatGPT’s default suggestions.

For this example, I chose to stick with the suggested options.

4. Utilize the “Configure Tab” at any stage to add detailed configurations including knowledge sources, style adjustments, API integrations, and more.

Use this tab for more advanced configuration.

5. Once finalized, save your Custom GPT. You can keep it private, share it with colleagues, or publish it for broader use.

Now, you’re all set with a custom GPT that’s perfectly suited to your product management needs.

Invitation to Innovate

I encourage you to experiment with creating versatile assistants for various tasks. Share your innovative Custom GPTs in the comments — let’s inspire each other with our creations tailored for the unique challenges of product management.

Note: Access to Custom GPTs requires a subscription to the paid version of ChatGPT.