ECO ↔ Performance Domains
Two documents, two purposes. 📘 The PMBOK Guide organizes knowledge by 7 performance domains (areas of work). 🎯 The ECO organizes the exam by 3 exam domains (the PM’s role) — and the exam is written from the ECO, not PMBOK. They relate many-to-many, not 1:1.
| 📘 Performance Domain (PMBOK) | 🎯 People | 🎯 Process | 🎯 Business Env |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stakeholders | ● | ○ | |
| Resources | ● | ● | |
| Scope | ● | ○ | |
| Schedule | ● | ||
| Finance | ● | ||
| Governance | ○ | ○ | ● |
| Risk | ○ | ● |
● primary · ○ secondary. Takeaway: learn by PMBOK, think by ECO. Task-level detail below.
People Domain — 33%
| ECO Task | Performance Domain(s) |
|---|---|
| Task 1: Develop a common vision | Stakeholders, Governance |
| Task 2: Manage conflicts | Stakeholders, Resources |
| Task 3: Lead the project team | Resources |
| Task 4: Engage stakeholders | Stakeholders |
| Task 5: Align stakeholder expectations | Stakeholders |
| Task 6: Manage stakeholder expectations | Stakeholders |
| Task 7: Help ensure knowledge transfer | Resources, Governance |
| Task 8: Plan and manage communication | Stakeholders |
People is the most cross-cutting domain — leadership and stakeholder work touches every performance domain.
Process Domain — 41%
| ECO Task | Performance Domain(s) |
|---|---|
| Task 1: Develop integrated PM plan | All (cross-cutting) |
| Task 2: Develop and manage project scope | Scope |
| Task 3: Help ensure value-based delivery | Scope, Governance |
| Task 4: Plan and manage resources | Resources |
| Task 5: Plan and manage procurement | Resources |
| Task 6: Plan and manage finance | Finance |
| Task 7: Plan and optimize quality | Scope |
| Task 8: Plan and manage schedule | Schedule |
| Task 9: Evaluate project status | All (cross-cutting) |
| Task 10: Manage project closure | Governance |
Process maps most cleanly — nearly 1:1 with the 7 performance domains.
Business Environment Domain — 26%
| ECO Task | Performance Domain(s) |
|---|---|
| Task 1: Define and establish project governance | Governance |
| Task 2: Plan and manage project compliance | Governance, Risk |
| Task 3: Manage and control changes | Governance, Scope |
| Task 4: Remove impediments and manage issues | Risk, Governance |
| Task 5: Plan and manage risk | Risk |
| Task 6: Continuous improvement | Governance, Risk |
| Task 7: Support organizational change | Stakeholders, Governance |
| Task 8: Evaluate external business environment changes | Risk, Governance |
Business Environment is the Governance + Risk performance domains seen from the outside-in — what the organizational and external context imposes on the project.
ECO ↔ Focus Areas
Focus Areas are the “when” layer — they cut across all ECO domains and all performance domains simultaneously.
| Focus Area | ECO domains active |
|---|---|
| Initiating | Business Environment (Task 1: governance setup) + People (Task 1: vision, Task 4: stakeholder ID) |
| Planning | Process (Tasks 1–8 all involve planning) + Business Environment (Tasks 2, 5: risk and compliance planning) |
| Executing | Process (delivery, quality, resources) + People (leading team, managing expectations) + Business Environment (Tasks 3, 4: change control, impediments) |
| Monitoring and Controlling | Process (Task 9: evaluate status) + Business Environment (Tasks 3, 4, 5, 8) |
| Closing | Process (Task 10) + Business Environment (Task 6: lessons learned, OPA updates) |
People domain has no natural home in any single focus area — leadership and stakeholder work recurs across all five. This is why the ECO isolates it as its own domain rather than embedding it in Process.