A team is about to close a deployment but is waiting for critical information from the customer. The customer repeatedly postpones sending it, delaying the deployment. What should the project manager have done to prevent the delay?

The most effective way to prevent this delay is to obtain all critical information ahead of time. Proactive planning and information gathering during the early phases of the project, such as planning or requirements gathering, would identify dependencies and ensure necessary data is available before deployment. This minimizes risks associated with external delays. Delegating the task to the product owner might shift responsibility but doesn't guarantee the information's timely arrival if the customer remains unresponsive. Asking the team to use sample data is a workaround that could introduce inaccuracies or fail to fully test the deployment's functionality with real-world data, potentially leading to post-deployment issues. Engaging the sponsor is a reactive escalation tactic that might resolve the current issue but doesn't address the root cause of the initial oversight in planning for information availability.