How do your skills transfer to project management: PMBOK 7 Principles and Project Domains
The question is often asked “How do my current skills transfer to project management?”
Many folks, from many fields, including the sciences, education, marketing and sales are often interested in adding the project management skill-set to their repertoire.
The table below lists the 12 Project Principles (P) and the 8 Project Performance Domains (D) as defined in the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) 7th Edition.
This list is not exhaustive. There are areas and skills a project manager needs beyond this list.
However, this is meant to be a helpful guide for those considering project management.
How to use this table:
The Principles and Domains are on the left.
A list of potentially transferable skills to match that principle/domain is on the right.
The idea is to help jog your brain to help you see that you may already have the skills needed to become a Project Manager Professional (PMP).
Whether you are writing a resume or a summary of your skills, I hope this table assists you in communicating how your past experiences and skills translate to project management.
I think many readers have many of these skills already but you have not made the connection to project management.
| Principle/Domain | Transferable Skills |
|---|---|
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Stakeholders (PD) | Customer Service |
| ANY People experience (cashier, helpdesk, customer support) | |
| Any position where you had to lead/convince others to move forward with an initiative | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Team (PD) | ANY position where you had to manage others |
| Experience with managing your own family | |
| experience working with a small group of people and you helped move that group forward in order to accomplish a task | |
| any experience where you were given a task as part of a group | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Adaptability and Resilience (P) | any experience where you had to pivot from A and then do B |
| any experience where you stuck with a task through difficult times and were able to reach a goal | |
| any experience where “change” was thrust upon you and you had to adjust to the circumstances and move forward | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Risk (P) | have you ever assessed risk as a parent when your child enters a playground? |
| do you drive a car? | |
| have you planned a party, or event, and set up some kind of contingency plan because of weather? | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Tailoring (P) | have you tried to build something and had to assess the tools and materials you needed to build it? |
| have you had to make something from scratch based on unique measurements? | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Value (P) | identify needs |
| justify doing a project around the house/work | |
| make a decision that something was worth doing | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Systems Thinking (P) | experiences where you had to look at parts and yet see the large whole: landscaping a yard, cooking from a recipe, manufacturing/assembly |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Leadership (P) | any experience where you had to lead an effort: coaching (sports or business), tutoring, mentoring, facilitate meetings/conversations, organize an event |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Quality (P) | meet expectations of a superior |
| build something to spec | |
| quality control on something you physically made | |
| regulatory compliance with govt rules | |
| uniformity/precision in designing something | |
| sustainability in building processes at work | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Complexity (P) | any dynamic environment that you have experienced: family, work, sports, play |
| multi-facted project of any kind | |
| working as part of a team | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Change (P) | changing jobs |
| moving homes | |
| changing schools | |
| doing something differently/more efficiently to achieve the same goal | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Stewardship (P) | Have you ever taken care of something? A child? A garden? Think of what is required. The same care is needed for taking care of a project. |
| What are examples where you have displayed integrity and trustworthiness? | |
| Have you had to adhere to some kind of government regulatory compliance? | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Development Approach and Life Cycle (D) | creating deliverables:documents, spreadsheets, budgets, instructions, how-tos |
| figuring out HOW you wanted to do something | |
| accomplish something implemented in steps | |
| break a larger tasks down into smaller tasks | |
| anything you began and then also finished | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Planning (D) | any life experience where planning is involved: event, a move, schoolwork |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Project Work (D) | writing documentation |
| communication: verbal, written, video, virtual | |
| creating a quote for a product or service your company sells | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Delivery (D) | any work where you had to create a list of necessary items that needed to be included (requirements) |
| any work where you had to create a plan | |
| work where you knew what “completion” looked like | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Measurement (D) | managing a budget (personal/work) |
| defining key performance indicators | |
| data analytics | |
| forecasting | |
| estimating | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
| Uncertainty (D) | situations that were ambiguous |
| situations that were volatile | |
| anything you tried that was NEW to you | |
| ------------------ | ------------------- |
Did you find this helpful?
Are you ready to become a project manager?