A key team member had an accident and will be hospitalized for at least two months. Backlog items they were working on are delayed because they were the only person who knew how to complete them. What could the project manager have done to avoid this situation?

Developing a knowledge transfer plan would have ensured that critical information and skills were shared among team members. This proactive approach prevents single points of failure, as other team members would have been cross-trained or had access to documentation to continue the work. Identifying this risk and defining a risk response plan is a good general practice, but a knowledge transfer plan is the specific mitigation for this scenario. Assigning backlog items to at least two team members is a form of knowledge transfer but might not be feasible for all tasks or roles. Reserving a contingency budget is a reactive measure for financial impact, not a preventative one for skill gaps.