The 8 Performance Domains

POSTER 03

Section 2 · PMBOK 7 — The "What / Where It Shows Up"

The 8 Performance Domains

Domains are interacting areas of focus that run concurrently across the whole effort — not phases and not the old knowledge areas. You steer each one by its outcomes & checks. The 12 Principles (Poster 2) are the mindset behind them.

Visual Map & Key Concepts — the 8 domains, their outcomes, signals & traps

Stakeholders↔ Team↔ Dev Approach↔ Planning↔ Project Work↔ Delivery + cross-cutting → Measurement· Uncertainty

Domain	Intent	Target outcomes	Measures / indicators	Watch-out
1 · Stakeholders	Build productive relationships & the right level of engagement.	Stakeholders aware, engaged & supportive; conflicts surfaced & managed.	Engagement level (unaware→leading); satisfaction; open issues.	A hidden or under-engaged stakeholder.
2 · Team	Grow a high-performing, shared-ownership team & distributed leadership.	Trust, safety, shared ownership, capability growth.	Stable velocity; retention; morale / safety pulse.	Hero culture & burnout.
3 · Development Approach & Life Cycle	Choose predictive / iterative / incremental / adaptive / hybrid & a fitting life cycle & cadence.	Approach matches the deliverable & context; delivery cadence set.	Fit-for-context check; release cadence.	Forcing one approach onto every deliverable.
4 · Planning	Organise & coordinate the work progressively & proportionately.	Coordinated, "just-enough" plan; estimates that evolve.	Forecast accuracy; plan/baseline stability.	Over-planning & big-bang plans.
5 · Project Work	Run efficient processes — resources, procurement, communications, learning.	Smooth flow; informed stakeholders; capable, supplied team.	Throughput; WIP; lead / cycle time.	Invisible work & bottlenecks.
6 · Delivery	Deliver the scope & quality that achieve the intended outcomes.	Requirements met; acceptance & quality criteria satisfied; value delivered.	Acceptance %; defect/escape rate; scope completion.	Shipping output that produces no outcome.
7 · Measurement cross-cutting	Assess performance vs plan/value & act on it.	Reliable information; timely, evidence-based decisions.	EV · CPI · SPI; leading vs lagging KPIs; dashboards.	Vanity metrics & gamed numbers.
8 · Uncertainty cross-cutting	Navigate risk, ambiguity, complexity & volatility.	Threats reduced; opportunities captured; resilience built.	Risk exposure (EMV); reserve burn; variability.	Ignoring opportunity; false precision.

Relationships

All 8 run simultaneously & continuously — they are not a sequence.
Dev Approach shapes Planning & Project Work; Delivery realises Stakeholder value.
Measurement feeds decisions in every other domain.
Uncertainty overlays all — risk lives everywhere.

Exam Concepts

Domains are concurrent, not phases.
They are the lens that replaced the 10 knowledge areas.
Steer by outcomes & checks, not activities.
Leading indicators predict; lagging confirm.
You tailor the system of domains to context.

Executive View

Exec dashboards = the Measurement domain made visible.
Watch flow metrics (lead time, throughput) beside Earned Value.
Reward outcomes over outputs.
Treat Uncertainty as a standing board topic.

Industry Example — Rail station build

Infrastructure

Dev Approach: predictive civils, agile for the passenger-info software → hybrid.
Project Work: manage interfaces between contractors as flow & WIP.
Delivery: "trains stop & passengers flow safely," not just "platform poured."
Uncertainty: weather, utilities & possessions are the live risk drivers.

Memory Hooks

Order mnemonic (1–8):

Some Teams Develop Plans, Producing Deliverables Measured (under) Uncertainty

M & U are the two cross-cutting domains — picture them as a frame around the other six.

60-sec Review Name all 8 in order (mnemonic) Which 2 are cross-cutting? "Domains run concurrently" — say why One outcome + one trap per domain Leading vs lagging indicator

PMI Visual Wall · Poster 03 · PMBOK 7 Performance Domains · original instructional design · A3 landscape