3 Domains & 6 Segments to Simplify Project Management
The purpose of this article is to cover adding the domains of project management knowledge into the MPM model to explain how the foundational questions are answered using project management domains of knowledge.
This builds on an earlier blog that explains the 5ws and how, which is the inner ring on the model.
There are 3 main domains with 2 segments in each. It is those 3 domains and 6 segments that are covered here.
3 Domains and 6 Segments in the MPM model
There are six core segments, spread over the three domains which have two segments each, starting from “Why?” or “Motive” and going clockwise around the model.
Domain 1: Lead
This domain encompasses the leadership of the project. You’re leading the purpose and “why” and the team and stakeholders.
Segment 1: Motive
The first segment covers the motivation or reasons for doing the project. It covers the “Why?” of the project.
Motive answers the purpose for the project and, at a high-level, some of the important challenges or risks, and assumptions we are making about the project success.
When you first envision the project, you conceptualize an end state. This is your purpose, and it is a statement about the vision of what you expect.
It also contains at a high-level a more detailed Description if there is more needed than a single statement, and Motive also contains some Assumptions that about what you know and project risks which are issues that may or may not come to fruition.
Segment 2: People
The second segment is all things “People”. It covers the “Who?” of the project.
“People” addresses who is involved in what roles, and the org chart for the project. “People” also covers who the key participants are, and those with the most stake in the project end results, called stakeholders, and how to communicate with these stakeholders.
Projects also involve change and that affects people’s daily and weekly habits and so we need those whose lives are changing because of the project to adopt the project outcomes.
The “Who” Project Management segment is your “People”, your “Team” or Stakeholders
We can train our end users, and they can learn, but the bottom line is that in the end they need to Adopt the change it is introducing and the project needs to help them change their current habits and routines to bring that change into a new way of operating.
Domain 2: Oversee
Domain two is Oversee. The project manager oversees the production or creation of the outcomes, and they oversee the financials to ensure the project remains on or under budget.
Segment 3: Outcomes
The third segment is “What” the project is producing, the things that are considered the project outcomes.
Outcomes include the Objectives, which are statements about the project outcomes that can be measured that when completed, achieve the project’s purpose.
Outcomes are project items or pieces you can exchange for money
It also includes all of the detailed defined in the Scope, as in what is included and not included, the Requirements, such as what is mandatory and what is optional, the Deliverables, which is what we are actually delivering, and Testing. Quality measures regarding the testing outcomes are the relative measure of how our Deliverables conform to the Requirements.
Outcomes are the tangible items, those that we can point to and say that is what the project produced; and these things are what your “customers” are comfortable exchanging for financial considerations or other things.
Segment 4: Financials
Ah the financials, what would a discussion be without money? The fourth segment is “How Much”, or the financials side of managing the project.
This includes the financial controls such as Capital and Operational Expenses; and the Budget picture where they all come together.
If your project involves procurement, and many do, then the procurement is covered here under the Financials segment, because it is detail about any planned purchases, especially if that is a large part of your project.
Domain 3: Plan
The plan domain takes why the project is being done, who is involved, what is being created, and the funds required, and creates a map of how to get there and schedule of when it will be done.
Segment 5: Map
The fifth segment is our “Where” as in location or route, or “Map” on how we are getting there.
The route can follow an existing methodology, which are the steps articulated by someone who came before you, who did something similar, and now you can stand on their shoulders and follow their steps and processes to complete your project.
“Where” is the Project Management segment of “Map”
Your interpretation of the methodology is the project Approach. This is where you connect the actual things your project is producing into a set of related steps to describe the route or map you are going to follow to complete your project.
Segment 6: Timing
The final segment answers the “When”, the “Timing”, bringing the calendar into the picture to create a schedule that specifies the end-date when the project is complete, and important critical intermediate dates.
Critical intermediate dates are also called milestones because they provide important markers for your stakeholders to focus on to check on progress of your project.
Timing adds the calendar to the approach
Summary
The MPM model starts with the six questions that form the foundation for developing knowledge in a subject area.
Since the subject area is project management, we categorize the three domains of knowledge into Leading, Overseeing, and Planning and within that categorizing the project pieces into six segments based on the type of foundation project management knowledge.
The 3 domains are Lead, Oversee, and Plan, and the 6 segments are: Motive, People, Outcomes, Financials, Map, and Timing.
Action Steps / Apply This Knowledge
- Think of the project management knowledge domains and segments listed above where you currently spend most of your time when managing a project, and those where you spend the least amount of your time.
Does the aspect of placing the project management knowledge pieces into the three domains and six segments change things, or provide any clarity?
- Then ask yourself, which one of the 3 domains or 6 segments are you strongest in, and which ones do you feel you could use some additional research or education to help improve how you manage projects? I find that helps me understand where I can either get an expert to help or bolster my own knowledge base.
- Prompt engineering guidance for AI GPTs such as chatGPT: “I’m a business leader managing a project whose purpose is X, and delivering Y and Z. What are some key domains of knowledge and specific details I need to define to ensure my project has the requisite foundation for success?”
Learn More to Do More
Business evolves through change initiatives otherwise known as projects. The key to managing these change initiatives so you have more time, and less stress is to use simple strategies and tools.
Check out the Learning Hub’s other Articles with Actionable Steps, organized with a busy leader in mind, by topic or main idea, and with some AI GPT (e.g. ChatGPT) prompt engineering suggestions under the Action steps: https://simplepmstrategies.com/learning-hub-index
MPM – PM Domains
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