In a product development project, stakeholders keep complaining that delivered functionalities are not required by the business. The sponsor asks whether resources are being used effectively. What should the project manager have done to avoid delivering work that doesn't add business value?

The correct answer is to encourage the product owner to meet stakeholders and create a product backlog based on their needs. This proactive approach ensures that the product owner, who represents the voice of the customer in agile environments, directly engages with stakeholders to understand and prioritize their requirements. A well-defined product backlog, created collaboratively, ensures that development efforts align with actual business value, preventing the delivery of unneeded functionalities. Asking stakeholders to record complaints as change requests is reactive and addresses symptoms, not the root cause. Defining a rigid product scope and prohibiting deviation is impractical in product development, which often requires flexibility and adaptation. Documenting needs and reviewing them in a retrospective is also reactive and doesn't prevent the initial delivery of low-value work.