According to the PMP Exam Content Outline, one of the tasks of a project manager in the leading domain is to "Communicate roles, responsibilities, and reporting relationships to team members and stakeholders in order to create a project team environment that fosters performance." This implies that the project manager should reaffirm the required project obligations directly with the team member who failed to communicate the reason for their absence from three team meetings. The project manager should clarify the expectations and consequences of the team member's behavior, and provide constructive feedback and coaching to help them improve their communication skills and accountability. The project manager should also document the issue and the actions taken to resolve it, and monitor the team member's performance and attendance. Reaffirming the project obligations directly with the team member can help to prevent further misunderstandings, conflicts, or delays in the project, and enhance the team member's engagement and commitment. References:
PMP Exam Content Outline
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), Sixth Edition, Chapter 9.4.2.1 and
9.4.3.2
Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, Chapter 4.4.1 and 4.4.2 How do project managers deal with unplanned leaves?1 How to deal with a team member who keeps missing deadlines?2

When quality and timeliness are deteriorating, the immediate priority is to stop defects from flowing forward and compounding. The project manager (or agile lead) should confirm that the right quality tests and practices are being applied before moving on (C). This includes ensuring the Definition of Done is met, validating test coverage, improving automation where feasible, strengthening peer reviews, and enforcing required quality gates so incomplete or low-quality work is not carried into the next iteration. Iteration planning (A) should incorporate quality learnings, but planning alone does not correct current quality discipline. Scheduling stakeholder quality reviews (B) can help with feedback, but it is reactive and may increase overhead if internal quality controls are weak. Capturing issues as technical debt (D) is useful for transparency, but it does not prevent additional defects from being created and can normalize poor quality if the team continues moving forward. By ensuring correct quality tests and controls now, the team improves predictability, reduces rework, and restores the flow of valuable increments to the business.

According to the PMBOK Guide, project governance is the framework, functions, and processes that guide project management activities in order to create value and meet organizational objectives. Project governance also defines the roles and responsibilities of the project stakeholders, including the product owner, who is the person or group that is responsible for defining and prioritizing the product backlog and accepting the product increments1.
One of the principles of agile project management, as described in the Agile Practice Guide, is to collaborate with customers and stakeholders frequently and throughout the project. This principle implies that the product owner should be actively involved in the project and provide timely feedback and guidance to the project team. The product owner should also attend the demonstration ceremonies, which are events where the project team showcases the product increments to the product owner and other stakeholders and collects their feedback2.
Therefore, the project manager should have agreed with the product owner on appropriate project governance levels, which means defining the expectations, commitments, and communication channels between the project team and the product owner. This would have helped to avoid the situation where the product owner does not regularly attend the demonstration ceremonies and causes delays and disruptions to the project. By agreeing on the project governance levels, the project manager and the product owner could have established a mutual understanding of the value and importance of the demonstration ceremonies and the product owner's role and responsibility in them.
References:
1: Project Management Institute. (2023). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) - Seventh Edition. Newtown Square, PA: Author.
2: Project Management Institute. (2023). Agile Practice Guide. Newtown Square, PA: Author.

When a project manager encounters a situation where a vendor's rates do not fit into the project budget, it's important to engage the project stakeholders1. This is because stakeholders have a vested interest in the project and can provide valuable input on how to proceed. They may be able to suggest alternative vendors, provide additional funding, or help negotiate a better rate with the vendor. Engaging stakeholders in this decision also ensures transparency and buy-in, which are key to successful project management2. References:
https://www.brainscape.com/flashcards/pmp-test-11-10971072/packs/19294018
https://relevant.software/blog/it-vendor-management-guide/