4 Project Management Examples That Help You Understand Project Management Better

Did you know there are over 1.2 million project management specialists in the United States? Project managers play a critical role in helping facilitate and complete projects, which ultimately help companies grow.

But what exactly does a project manager do? How does project management work?

To help you better understand how project management works, we’ve created this post with four project management examples to help you better understand how it works.

Keep reading to learn more!

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4 basic components of project management

Before we dive into the list of project management examples, we’ll quickly cover the four components of project management. We’ll reference these components in each example.

The four basic components of managing projects are:

• Planning: At the planning stage, project managers lay out how to complete the project, goals, deadlines, and who will accomplish specific tasks.
• Execution: The execution stage involves all members assigned to the project completing their assigned tasks.
• Monitoring: The project manager will monitor progress during the project and help address any issues that arise. Project managers also monitor the project after it’s launched to see how it performs and meets its goals.
• Closing: Project managers are responsible for closing out projects. This step may involve sharing results numbers, completing paperwork, or a similar task.

Keep in mind that these are just the four basic components. Depending on your company, your project management may have more than four components, or those components may be broken down into smaller segments.

Now that you know the four components of project management, let’s move on to project examples for project management.

4 project management examples that explain project management better

To help you better understand how project management works, look at this list of examples of project management to see how it works for different projects.

Project management example #1: Redesigning your website

First on our list of project examples for project management is redesigning your website. Let’s say that your company decides your website needs a fresh look, so you want to overhaul your website.

Here’s a breakdown of how this project would work using the four basic components:

Planning

When planning a project like revamping your website, there are numerous areas of focus for a project manager. A project manager and their team will complete tasks like:

• Analyzing the current website
• Creating the new design theme and all its components
• Drawing up a wireframe for the new design
• Setting goals for the new website
• Reviewing/creating buyer personas
• Defining your branding and messaging
• Setting up milestones for updating the website
• Analyzing competitor websites
• Determining how to build the website (Will you use a website builder? Which one?)
• Setting a deadline for the website revamp
• Assigning tasks and responsibilities for the website revamp to team members
• And more

Depending upon the project, you may find that the planning stage, like in this project management example, involves pulling a lot of background information to help execute the project. Additionally, this stage involves making critical project decisions, from what medium you’ll use to whom you’ll target in your audience.

Execution

When looking at examples of projects in project management, the execution stage looks different depending on the project. For this example, the execution stage may include tasks like:

• Making tweaks and adjustments to the wireframe
• Updating your brand style guide
• Creating new pages on your website
• Conducting keyword research to identify new terms
• Testing website design changes
• Creating a 301-redirect strategy
• Crafting new content
• And more

For this example of project management, the execution stage will involve numerous tasks for getting the website redesign ready.

Monitoring

With these examples of project management, you’ll see that you must monitor performance. Whether you build a new website or launch a new product, you always want to monitor what you’re doing to see if it’s working. If it’s not working, you can adjust and drive better results.

With this project management project example, this stage involves tasks like:

• Monitoring search engine optimization (SEO) performance
• Testing website features to ensure they work
• Optimizing website forms
• Improving website load times
• Monitoring and fixing design errors
• And more

For this project management example, the monitoring stage helps ensure that the website is functioning and allows the team to make any adjustments necessary to deliver a top-notch website.

Closing

To wrap up this project management project example, let’s look at the closing stage. The closing will vary depending on the project type. It might involve completing paperwork or collecting findings for a report.

With this project management example, the closing may not come until a few months later. A project manager who helps with a redesign may wait a few months to see how the new website performs and drive results before closing the project.

Project management example #2: Introducing a new product

Next on our list of project management project examples is introducing a new product. As your business continues to grow, you’re always looking to expand and innovate. So, like many businesses, introducing a new product is very common.

Just like the other examples of project management, let’s break this project down into four basic components:

Planning

If you’re opting to launch a new product, the planning component is one of the most critical parts of the process. Not only do you need to plan for the creation and development of the product, but you also need to start thinking about how you’ll launch and market the product to your target audience.

For a project like this, a project manager will:

• Help the team create a plan of execution for developing the product
• Identify costs associated with developing the product and launching it
• Assign team members to responsibilities for developing and launching the product
• Set deadlines for product release
• Set deadlines for product announcement
• Develop a marketing plan for promoting the product
• And more

Like other project management examples, the planning component is critical for the success of whatever project you complete. In this case, the planning stage will help the project manager plan what product they’re launching, how they’ll develop it, and what the marketing will look like for the product.

Execution

Once all the components of the planning stage are established, it’s time to execute. For a product launch, you may have people working on different components of getting the product ready to go to market.

The project manager will oversee people completing tasks like:

• Developing the product
• Testing the product
• Testing the product with focus groups for feedback
• Revamping product designs to improve
• Creating marketing materials for the product
• Fixing bugs or issues
• And more

The project manager will need to ensure that the product is ready to go to the market and that the promotional materials are out to promote the new product.

Monitoring

Once the product goes to market, the project manager and their team will monitor the product’s performance. This includes tasks like:

• Monitoring the effectiveness of marketing materials
• Obtaining feedback about the new product
• Identifying any ongoing issues that weren’t previously identified
• Troubleshooting issues customers have with the product
• And more

This part of project management is critical because it provides the project manager and their team with helpful insight. They can understand how audiences respond to their new product, what works, what doesn’t work, and more.

Closing

For this project management example, the closing may vary depending on the company. Some companies may have the project manager provide a final report of the project once it’s launched, while other companies may want to wait a few months and then have a monitored report of the product’s performance.

Project management example #3: Launching a new customer loyalty program

Next on this list of examples of projects in project management is creating a customer loyalty program. This is a common project for many companies, as you want to give your audience a reason to continue shopping with you.

Here’s a breakdown of how this example of project management would work:

Planning

The planning stage of building a customer loyalty program is a critical one. At this stage, you lay the groundwork for your loyalty program.

The project manager will oversee teams completing tasks like:

• Studying current customers and their likes
• Determining the setup and flow of the loyalty program (how people earn rewards, when they can cash in on rewards, etc.)
• Determining rewards for the loyalty program
• Reviewing customer ideas for loyalty program perks
• Laying out the required information for the loyalty program (information needed to join)
• Generating ideas for loyalty program personalization
• And more

The planning stage is a critical part of this project management example because it helps to set all the groundwork for a successful customer loyalty program.

Execution

The next stage for this example of project management is launching the loyalty program. If the loyalty program is all digital, much of the execution phase will involve coding and creating the loyalty program online.

A project manager will oversee their team completing tasks like:

• Creating features for tracking the loyalty program, like a tracker bar
• Implementing the loyalty program tracking into a website or app
• Launching promotional materials for the new loyalty program
• Creating promotional materials for loyal customers to get a sneak peek
• Launching a sign-up form for joining the loyalty program
• Integrating loyal perk messages throughout the company’s website or app
• And more

This stage will involve most of the team getting the loyalty program set up and promoting it to their customers to build excitement around the program.

Monitoring

When looking at all these project management examples, you can see that the monitoring stage is an integral part of determining the success of a project. For a loyalty program, the monitoring stage is critical for adjusting to improve the loyalty program.

At this point, the project manager will have tasks like:

• Monitoring sign-ups for the loyalty program
• Monitoring loyalty program usage
• Asking for feedback from customers using the program
• Troubleshooting any issues or glitches with the loyalty program tracking
• And more

This stage is critical for ensuring that the loyalty program is functioning as intended and provides the experience desired by customers.

Closing

When launching a loyalty program, the launch and final report of the project will generally wrap it up. Loyalty programs often go through phases –– the program may run for some time, and then the project manager will review it.

If the project manager finds areas to improve, they may start a new project to revamp the loyalty program.

Project management example #4: Creating an in-depth industry guide

Last on this list of project management project examples, we’ll talk about creating an in-depth industry guide. Many companies will create these guides to provide helpful information to prospects while establishing themselves as an authority in the industry.

Here’s a breakdown of how that project might look:

Planning

With this example of project management, the first thing to do is plan how to create the guide. At this stage, the project manager will:

• Determine the depth of the guide
• Determine the topics included
• Creating a stylistic guide for creating and publishing
• Creating an outline for the guide
• Assign portions of the guide to team members
• And more

At this stage, the project manager will determine what’s included in the guide and how the guide will look once published.

Execution

For this project management example, the execution stage is simple –– the team will start writing and creating their portions of the guide.

The project manager will ensure the team completes tasks like:

• Writing all pieces of the guide
• Editing all pieces of the guide
• Implementing visual elements as needed
• Verifying that writing fits the style guide
• And more

At the execution stage of this example of project management, the project manager mainly ensures that the guide is moving toward completion and done correctly.

Monitoring

In addition to monitoring the guide as it’s created, the project manager will monitor the guide’s performance once it’s launched.

The project manager will track the guide’s performance online. If the guide serves as a means for the company to obtain leads, for example, the project manager might monitor downloads and email submissions.

Additionally, the project manager might monitor other metrics regarding the guide, like how a social media post performs that promotes the guide.

Closing

After the guide has been up, the project manager will close the project by issuing a report regarding the guide’s performance. The project manager can share how many downloads the guide received, how many new leads it drove, and more.

Get information about project management examples and beyond

Now that you’ve seen project management examples in action, you can better understand what a project manager does to ensure those projects run smoothly.

If you want to learn more about topics like project management and discover the best project management tools to boost productivity, subscribe to Marketing Manager Insider!