According to the BABOK® Guide, a business analyst (BA) should collaborate with stakeholders throughout the business analysis process to ensure their needs and expectations are understood and met. Collaboration involves establishing and maintaining relationships, communicating effectively, resolving conflicts, and facilitating decision making. In this scenario, the BA should have engaged in consistent collaboration with the project SMEs to keep them involved and interested in the project, and to address any issues or concerns they may have. This way, the BA could have ensured the SMEs' participation and contribution to the project, and avoided the delay to the project build phase. References:
[BABOK® Guide], section 3.1: Collaboration
CCBA Exam Questions & Answers with Explanations, question 417