| Course | PJM-5100 Project Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 5 |
| Paper type | Written assignment 5: project personnel |
| Length | About 822 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | Master of Science in Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PJM 5100 Module 5
Five Departments, One Opening Day: Leading the Branch Project Team
Student Name
Master of Science in Management, Thomas Edison State University
PJM-5100: Project Management
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Five Departments, One Opening Day: Leading the Branch Project Team
Introduction
Projects are delivered by people, and much of a project manager's influence comes without direct authority over them. Gido et al. (2018) describe the project manager's responsibilities as planning, organizing and controlling, and the skills required as leadership, team development, communication, problem solving, negotiation and time management. This assignment applies those ideas to the team delivering Prairie Hills Credit Union's ninth branch: the project manager, the facilities, information technology, human resources and marketing managers, who each report to their own department heads, and the new branch manager, who joined in week 6.
The Project Manager's Role
In planning, the project manager has led the work breakdown, schedule and budget with the functional managers, so that each owns the estimates for their area. In organizing, the responsibility matrix gives each work package one owner. In controlling, the project manager gathers status every two weeks, compares it with the baseline and leads corrective action, as at week 14. Because the functional managers report elsewhere, the project manager relies on the sponsor's backing, clear agreements and persuasion more than on formal authority.
Stages of Team Development
Tuckman (1965), reviewing studies of small groups, proposed a developmental sequence in which groups first form, then go through a stormy period, settle into norms and finally perform. The branch team has followed that pattern. In forming, during weeks 0 to 4, members were polite and relied on the project manager for direction. Storming began around week 12, when the facilities and information technology managers clashed over when installers could enter the building. The team now needs to reach norming, with agreed ways of working, before the intense installation period in weeks 24 to 27. The new branch manager's arrival also reset the team partially, since a newcomer must be brought into existing norms.
The Conflict
The facilities manager wants all technology installation to wait until the contractor's substantial completion so the building is clean and secure. The information technology manager wants installers inside from week 21 to run cabling and test the network while walls are open, which would shorten installation and reduce risk. Each position is reasonable from a functional point of view. Gido et al. (2018) identify sources of conflict in projects, including schedules, priorities, resources and technical opinions, and recommend confronting the problem directly rather than avoiding or smoothing it.
The project manager facilitated a meeting with both managers and the contractor's superintendent, framed around the shared objective of opening on September 30. The resolution allowed cabling and network work from week 21 in a secured technology room, with installers escorted and the contractor's site rules applying, while equipment that needs a clean environment waits for substantial completion. Both managers agreed, and the change shortens activity E by about a week, partly offsetting the construction delay.
A Team Charter
To move the team toward norming, the project manager drafted a one-page charter with the team's input.
| Element | Agreement |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Open branch nine by September 30 within $2.85 million |
| Decision rights | Owners decide within their work packages; cross-area trade-offs decided by the project manager with the owners; budget changes over $25,000 go to the sponsor |
| Meetings | Weekly 30-minute stand-up; biweekly status with earned value |
| Conflict | Raise disagreements in the stand-up within a week; unresolved issues escalated to the sponsor |
| Early warning | Any owner who expects a slip of three days or more reports it the same week, without blame |
Psychological Safety
The early warning rule matters because problems hidden until late are the most costly. Edmondson (1999), drawing on dozens of teams in one office-furniture maker, found that where team members felt safe taking interpersonal risks, they more often sought help, discussed mistakes and sought feedback, and those learning habits went with better team performance. The project manager can build that safety by thanking members who report problems early, discussing slips as problems to solve rather than failures to blame, and admitting the project manager's own mistakes.
Developing the New Branch Manager
The new branch manager joined a team already in motion and will run the branch long after the project ends. The project manager should pair the new manager with the facilities manager during construction walk-throughs, include the new manager in vendor meetings for teller equipment and assign ownership of staff training, so that relationships and authority are in place before opening day. Weekly fifteen-minute check-ins between the two managers during the final ten weeks would give the new manager a clear view of open issues and a chance to raise concerns early. This also prepares the handover in the closing phase.
Conclusion
The branch team has moved from forming into storming, as the stages of development predict. Direct, facilitated resolution of the installation dispute, a charter with clear decision rights and an early warning norm supported by psychological safety give the team a path to norming and performing before the critical installation weeks.
References
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behavior in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(2), 350-383. https://doi.org/10.2307/2666999
Gido, J., Clements, J. P., & Baker, R. (2018). Successful project management (7th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384-399. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022100
PJM 5100 Module 5 instructions, in plain terms
Module 5's PJM-5100 written assignment covers the people side of projects: the project manager's responsibilities and skills, team development and conflict. Apply these to the team on your project, describing members, reporting lines and the authority the project manager actually has. Use a model such as the stages of team development to diagnose where the team is, work through one actual or plausible disagreement and its resolution, and propose tools such as a team charter. Support your plan with research on teams and cite it in APA style. Keep the analysis tied to the project's schedule and objective. Describe behavior, not personalities, when you analyze team members and their disagreements.
Inside the PJM 5100 Module 5 example
The paper describes the team and the project manager's limited authority before applying any model, which makes the analysis realistic. The stages of team development are applied with dates from the project, and a conflict is presented from both sides before a resolution that serves the shared objective and helps the schedule. A charter table turns team development into specific agreements, including decision rights and an early warning rule. Research on psychological safety explains why that rule needs support from the project manager's behavior. The conclusion connects the team's development to the critical weeks ahead. Read it as the people chapter of the same continuing project case.
Reading the PJM 5100 Module 5 grading rubric
Assignment five is scored with the course's rubric. Credit goes to precise use of the module's ideas about the project manager's role, team development and conflict, applied to a specific team with evidence. A conflict analysis should present both positions fairly and resolve the issue in terms of the project objective. Tools such as a team charter earn credit when they are specific. Research on teams, cited correctly, strengthens the paper. Writing that is clear, organized and consistent with earlier assignments completes the grade. Generic leadership advice without a team and situation tends to score lower. Specific agreements, with dates and owners, earn more credit than general advice about teamwork.
Common PJM 5100 Module 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Students often describe team development stages in general without placing their own team in them, or resolve conflicts by declaring one side right. Our writers can prepare PJM 5100 personnel assignments for the project and team you are developing. List the team members, who they report to and what each needs from the project. Identify the stage your team is in from observable behavior, and pick one real conflict to analyze from both sides. Resolve it around the shared objective, then write the agreements that will prevent the next one and the behaviors that will help people report problems early. Then review the charter with the team after a month and revise it.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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PJM 5100 Module 5 questions, answered
Where can I find a free PJM 5100 Module 5 sample paper?
The fifth Project Management written assignment is shown above, analyzing the team, conflict and charter for a composite credit union's branch project.
What are the stages of team development?
Tuckman's stages are forming, storming, norming and performing, and teams can partly reset when membership changes.
How should a project manager resolve conflict between functional managers?
By confronting the problem directly, hearing both positions and resolving it in terms of the shared project objective.
What belongs in a team charter?
The team's purpose, decision rights, meeting routines, how conflicts are raised and escalated, and agreements such as early warning of delays.
What is psychological safety?
Members' shared sense that they can speak up, admit mistakes or ask questions without being punished, which research ties to team learning.