A team member working on a critical deliverable reports their computer is broken. IT says they cannot provide support for a week due to workload. How should the project manager respond?

The best course of action is to work with IT to find options for expedited repairs. This directly addresses the problem with the relevant department, leveraging the project's criticality as a justification for prioritizing the issue. It's a collaborative and proactive approach to problem-solving. Using project reserves to buy new equipment might be an option if IT truly cannot provide support, but it's premature to jump to this without first exploring solutions with IT. Meeting with the project sponsor for budget is also premature for the same reason and adds an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy at this initial stage. Asking the team member to find a workaround places the burden on them without providing support, and may not be feasible or efficient, potentially leading to further delays or quality issues.