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Understanding the domains found in the PMBOK® Guide will prepare an individual to manage a project.  These domains are universally applicable across industries and project types and are essential aspects of project management throughout the project lifecycle.

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Quick reference

Project Management Domains

The PMBOK® Guide has organized project management into eight domains.  These domains contain numerous processes, methods, and models that are used to conduct the management of the project.

When to use

The domains of the PMBOK® Guide should be used on every project.  The domains are applied concurrently throughout the life cycle of the project. Performance in one domain will impact the performance of the others.

Instructions

Understanding the domains found in the PMBOK® Guide will prepare an individual to manage a project.  Different projects will require a different level of emphasis between domains, but all projects rely on each domain to some extent. 

The eight domains are:

  • Stakeholder Performance – This integrates the activity of communicating with stakeholders to understand their needs, gain and maintain their approval for the project approach.
  • Team Performance – This domain is concerned with building and motivating the project team so as to ensure they have ownership of their role in the project and are able to complete their activities.
  • Development Approach and Life-Cycle Performance – This domain provides a structure to the project.  Through the use of phases, models, and methods the project is planned and the organization builds consistency in project performance.
  • Planning Performance – This domain is focused on developing and maintaining a project plan.  It addresses scope, schedule, resources, and balances the risk between these attributes of the project.
  • Work Performance – This domain focuses on the actual execution of project tasks. A key element of this domain is the communication and coordination between team members.
  • Delivery Performance – A project has a purpose to create or deliver a new product, process, or other organizational benefits.  This domain is based upon defining and assessing the efficacy of the project deliverable (s).
  • Measurement Performance – This domain tracks the project status and involves the problem-solving and decision-making associated with problems that are identified with the project. Ultimately, it reports on the value delivered to the organization from accomplishing the project.
  • Uncertainty Performance – All projects have risks and uncertainties, both threats and opportunities. This domain is the proactive management of the risks and uncertainties.

Hints & tips

  • Every aspect of project management is associated with one or more domains.  Do not become overly concerned about which domain is involved, since all domains impact each other, almost everything on a project is associated with multiple domains.
  • Review the domains in your Lessons Learned session or Sprint Retrospectives to identify what is working well and what is not.
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  • 00:03 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:05 Let's talk now about the project management domains described
  • 00:08 in the Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide.
  • 00:12 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide, defines a domain as
  • 00:16 project performance domain is a group of related activities that are critical for
  • 00:21 the effective delivery of project outcomes.
  • 00:24 These domains are addressed separately, but they are interrelated.
  • 00:28 The performance in one domain is impacted by the performance in other domains.
  • 00:32 For example, poor planning will increase uncertainty and
  • 00:36 excellent planning causes a reduction in uncertainty.
  • 00:40 Performance domains are not phases of a project.
  • 00:43 All the domains apply throughout the entire life cycle of the project.
  • 00:47 They're apply concurrently, and
  • 00:49 they're all critical to the outcomes of the project.
  • 00:52 Each domain describes multiple processes and methods for
  • 00:55 delivering performance within the domain.
  • 00:58 Specific tools are sometimes mentioned, and
  • 01:00 they're addressed in more detail in later sections of the PMBOK Guide.
  • 01:05 Each performance domain in the PMBOK Guide includes a section on the expected outcome
  • 01:10 from that domain.
  • 01:11 This allows project team and
  • 01:12 organizations to assess how well a project is performing within this domain.
  • 01:17 The PMBOK Guide has identified eight performance domains.
  • 01:21 These are stakeholder performance, which is focused on the interaction between
  • 01:25 the project team and project stakeholders.
  • 01:28 Team performance, which addresses the project team dynamics and team leadership.
  • 01:32 Development approach and life cycle performance,
  • 01:35 which provides the guidance on the overall methodology used to manage the project.
  • 01:40 Planning performance, which addresses the efficacy of the project plan.
  • 01:44 Work performance, which focuses on the timeliness and
  • 01:48 quality of work done by the project team on the project activities.
  • 01:52 Delivery performance, which focuses on the final results and
  • 01:55 the deliverables of the project,
  • 01:57 the project outcomes that create the value expected to be delivered by the project.
  • 02:02 Measurement performance is the oversight by the project team and
  • 02:06 management systems with respect to project execution.
  • 02:09 Uncertainty performance is the aspect addressing risk and
  • 02:13 complexity within the project in a proactive manner.
  • 02:17 In each of these performance domains,
  • 02:19 there are expectations of performance when the domain is being administered well.
  • 02:24 Let's take a moment to understand what those performance domain outcomes
  • 02:29 should be.
  • 02:29 Stakeholder performance should result in the building of relationships with
  • 02:34 stakeholders and obtaining their support and agreement of the project approach and
  • 02:38 the results.
  • 02:39 The team performance domain outcomes should be ownership by the team for
  • 02:44 the project plan and execution to deliver the desired project results.
  • 02:49 This includes creating and maintaining a positive and productive team environment.
  • 02:54 Development approach and
  • 02:55 life cycle performance domain outcome is a clear understanding of project phases and
  • 03:00 reviews and establishing a regular cadence for oversight that creates confidence.
  • 03:06 The planning performance is probably the easiest to understand.
  • 03:09 It is the creation and maintenance of a coordinated and
  • 03:13 integrated project plan that addresses project scope requirements,
  • 03:17 schedule constraints, and resource availability.
  • 03:20 Work performance domain outcome is the efficient and
  • 03:23 productive work on the project activities.
  • 03:26 A critical element of this domain is the communication between team members and
  • 03:30 between project team and stakeholders.
  • 03:33 The deliverable performance domain is focused on project results,
  • 03:37 the impact on the organization's performance and
  • 03:41 strategy, along with the realization of the expected project benefits.
  • 03:45 The measurement performance domain is primarily tied to determining and
  • 03:49 communicating status of project work so
  • 03:52 that effective decision-making is accomplished.
  • 03:55 It does also include the measurement of project value to the organization.
  • 03:59 Finally, uncertainty performance deals with the response to both threat risks and
  • 04:04 opportunity risks.
  • 04:06 The goal is to be proactive in addressing these risks, and,
  • 04:10 when caught in a reactive mode, to react effectively.
  • 04:13 Understanding the project management domains is an essential framework for
  • 04:17 any project management methodology.
  • 04:19 The specific tools will change as you go from methodology to methodology,
  • 04:24 but these domains are keys to success on any project.

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