A stakeholder is upset that a project is weeks behind schedule and confronts the

project manager to ask whether the project should be canceled. According to the acronym NIECE, what should the PM do$?$

Ask for a clarifying example and express sympathy.

Direct attention to the project's on$-$track budget.

Offer to remove milestones from the critical path.

Focus on the cross$-$functional aspects of the stakeholder's question.