A strategic financial project is using a predictive approach. During planning the product leader asks for milestone reviews, and scope and deadline are fixed. What should the project manager do first to meet this request?

The project manager should first meet with the software team to review the possibility of monthly milestone reviews. This is the most practical and collaborative initial step. While the project is predictive, incorporating regular reviews can enhance stakeholder engagement and provide early feedback, which aligns with the spirit of adaptive approaches even within a predictive framework. The project manager needs to understand the team's capacity and the implications of such reviews before committing or making formal changes. Changing the project charter is premature; the charter defines the project at a high level, and this request is operational. Informing the product leader to wait is unhelpful and dismissive of a stakeholder request. Modifying the project management plan to use an agile framework is a significant change that requires much more analysis and discussion than just a product leader's request for milestone reviews; it's an overreaction and likely unnecessary for this specific request.