A project manager is assigned to develop a mobile app. The sponsor wants the app to outperform their closest competitor and expects the team to start immediately. What should the project manager do first?

The project manager should first review the competitor's app to understand functionalities. This aligns with the "outperform their closest competitor" directive and provides crucial information for defining project scope, requirements, and success criteria. Without this initial understanding, subsequent planning activities like scope definition, resource planning, or estimating would be based on incomplete or inaccurate information, risking misalignment with the sponsor's primary objective. While defining scope, resource planning, and estimating are all important project management activities, they are more effective after gaining a foundational understanding of the competitive landscape and desired outcomes.