At a daily standup reviewing sprint progress, a team member reports delays caused by a component managed by an external vendor. How should the project manager respond?

The correct response is to ask the team member for details to address the issue with the vendor. This aligns with agile principles where the team identifies impediments, and the Project Manager (or Scrum Master in a Scrum context) facilitates their removal. The Project Manager's role is to support the team and remove obstacles, especially those external to the team's direct control. Gathering details is the first step in understanding the problem and formulating an effective solution with the vendor. Implementing fast tracking is a schedule compression technique, but it's premature without understanding the root cause and impact of the vendor delay. Asking the team member to resolve the issue independently is inappropriate; vendor management is often beyond a single team member's authority and requires Project Manager intervention. Updating the communications management plan is a reactive measure for preventing future similar issues, but it does not address the immediate problem of the current delay.