Project Performance domains are one of the new concepts introduced along with value delivery system, project delivery principles, and tailoring. Performance domains are a special grouping that serves to group the processes and activities that it contains in its content according to the qualities and characteristic features that will allow it to separate from other processes. These groupings are critical to be performed in order to deliver the project outcomes successfully.
In other words, performance domains are a broad range of issues that need to be focused on as a project leader and project team from the start of the project to its delivery. In this sense, there is not so much changed from the knowledge areas approach in terms of categorization. However, there is a critical difference. Knowledge areas were essentially the groupings of areas that the project manager needed to know in order to manage a project successfully. Differently, performance domains are areas to focus on rather than know in a detailed way. The new approach prefers to give the project team and project manager, in terms of using knowledge.
Another important difference between performance domains and knowledge areas is, performance domains focus on outcomes instead of outputs. At the end of performing processes, knowledge areas produce some outputs to use, these outputs are only a factor of realization of outcomes. All performance domains should have a set of measurable outcomes.
There are 8 different performance domains introduced. These are:
The Stakeholder Performance Domain: The processes activities related to stakeholders are inside this performance area. As effective stakeholder engagement is key to the project success, the stakeholder performance domain is needed to e focused on.
The Team Performance Domain: People who are chosen to be responsible for developing the deliveries that will realize the business outcomes are the project team. This performance domain focuses on all actions and processes about the project team, including managing conflicts, developing teams, and monitoring their interactions.
The Development Approach & Life-Cycle Performance Domain: This performance domain is about the processes and actions related to the life &cycle and development approach decisions of the project that is determined according to the characteristics of deliverables by using tailoring approaches.
The Planning Performance Domain: Focuses on actions and processes that will be useful to organize, elaborate, and coordinate work in the scope throughout the project. It is performed upfront and continuously throughout the project.
The Project Work Performance Domain: This domain is mainly about establishing project processes, management of physical resources, and conducting activities to build an effective learning environment.