Word, Idiom, or other Fixed Expression for “Stopping someone from doing something”

Question

In my office I had stopped one of my colleagues from working on a project. And I had to inform someone about it.

And using sentence

I had stopped him from working on it.

shows some disrespect for the person who was asked not to work on that project.

I searched for other options and found the words "Restrain" & "Refrain".

Which of these(or any other word) would be best to use here?

And is there anything other than this (like idioms or phrases) to use in these situations, so as to sound a bit more formal and respectful?

Answer 1

reallocated (as a "resource")

Examples of usage (dated 2003 and 2020, respectively):

Four approaches to staff reallocation in project management

‘Your country needs you’: the ethics of allocating staff...

I found reallocated while searching online for reassigned (to another duty) and pulled (from a project), which could be options if spinned positively.