What does the Stakeholder Management Plan explain?

The Stakeholder Management Plan is a crucial document in project management, as it outlines how stakeholder interests and influences will be identified and addressed throughout the project lifecycle. This plan is designed to ensure that all stakeholders, who can affect or be affected by the project, are recognized and their expectations managed effectively.

By identifying stakeholder interests, the project team can tailor their engagement strategies and communication methods to suit the specific needs of each stakeholder or stakeholder group. This proactive approach not only facilitates better relationships with stakeholders but also helps in mitigating potential risks associated with misunderstandings or conflicts arising from differing stakeholder priorities and influences.

In contrast, the other options focus on aspects that, while important to project management, do not specifically pertain to stakeholder management. For instance, controlling costs is related to financial management, communication methods pertain to overall project communications rather than being specific to stakeholder engagement, and testing and validation of deliverables focus on product quality rather than stakeholder relationships.