Practice: designing, planning, controlling and closing the work
What this domain is really testing
Practice is the 'how'. Its elements include design, goals and objectives, scope, time, organisation and information, quality, finance, resources, procurement and partnership, plan and control, risk and opportunity, stakeholders, and change and transformation. Around them sit four process groups: selecting the right processes, planning and managing, reviewing and assessing, and closing.
Concepts to name precisely
Scope is decomposed with a work breakdown structure obeying the 100% rule; scope creep is uncontrolled addition, gold plating is self-inflicted addition. Quality means fitness for purpose; assurance is prevention-oriented, control is inspection-oriented. Budget contingency covers known unknowns, management reserve covers unknown unknowns. Risk responses are avoid, reduce, transfer, accept; for opportunities, exploit, enhance, share, accept. Risk is uncertain and future-facing; an issue is already happening and is managed, not scored.
Traps
Confusing change control with organisational change and transformation - the first is a baseline discipline, the second is adoption and readiness. Confusing the critical path with the longest task. Treating procurement as price-only, ignoring contract type and supplier relationship. Handing over a deliverable and calling the benefit realised. Closing without capturing lessons or releasing resources.
Rule of thumb
Any change to an approved baseline travels the same integrated route: assess impact on scope, time, cost, quality and risk, then approve, reject or defer - and never absorb it silently.
Worked example
A component is single-sourced with a six-week lead time. Scoring probability × impact gives a high exposure. The response is to qualify a second source (reduce) and keep a small accepted residual, rather than simply monitoring and hoping.