A key stakeholder refuses to participate in a crucial project stage and disagrees with the team's approach, harming team morale. What should the project manager do?

The project manager should schedule a meeting with the project team and the key stakeholder to discuss and agree on an approach. This proactive and collaborative approach directly addresses the conflict, fostering understanding and seeking consensus. It demonstrates leadership by facilitating communication and problem-solving, which is crucial for stakeholder engagement and project success. Asking the project team to document why the stakeholder's approach is incorrect is confrontational and unlikely to resolve the conflict constructively. Discussing the issue with the team and asking them to change the approach without stakeholder input ignores the stakeholder's concerns and could escalate the conflict. Requesting the project sponsor to intervene immediately escalates the issue unnecessarily before the project manager has attempted to resolve it directly, which is a primary responsibility.