Monthly Archives: March 2015

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Time is Your SME’s Most Precious Commodity

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This post is one in a series that answers questions from viewers of the January 28 KnowledgeVision Google Hangout where we talked about the challenges of working with SMEs.

Question from Michelle: What do you find to be the most challenging type of SME and why?

The book Working With SMEs identifies eight different types of subject matter experts and gives you a plan for getting the best result with each style. They are:

1. The Speedy SME

2. The Scattered SME

3. The Shortcut SME

4. The Defensive SME

5. The Not-Quite-Expert SME

6. The Overcommitted SME

7. The Interrupted SME

8. The Reckless Reviewer

At the heart of most of these types of subject matter experts is the fact that they are in demand and overworked, so they may appear scattered, unfocused and in a hurry. The tools and tips for handling these issues usually simply requires making sure the SME has ample foreknowledge of what you will cover in your session, and that you confirm they have put aside a block of time that is dedicated to working on a training program with you.

For these reasons, I find the most challenging SME is the one who is too busy to really be doing the job of working on the training program. They are the most difficult not because they don’t care – because they usually care a lot – but it is hard to get an appointment, hard to keep the appointment, hard to keep their attention when you have them, and really tough to get a review of the material when you need it.

I find it most difficult because I think it is the hardest to overcome this limitation both for you and for them. They don’t have enough hours in the day, they may not be able to delegate this particular task to someone – or anything else on their plate for that matter – so sometimes the whole project is on hold waiting for them to become available.

This one situation comes particularly to mind. I wrote educational materials for administrators of a state program, and we wrote brochures on how to assemble a non-profit board, things like that. It was very difficult to get reviews, approvals and signoffs from people in the state capital in Harrisburg who had lots of other things tugging at them, and we were in Philadelphia – out of sight, out of mind.

As you know, these projects have timelines, resources lined up, and schedules to be met. The training requirements are usually already scheduled around a certain week or perhaps something needs to be put up on the learning system to meet a deadline for regulatory compliance. That “something” means you are under pressure, the clock is running, money is being spent while you are waiting and other resources – maybe graphic designers or printers – are all waiting for approvals so they can do their jobs.

For all these reasons, I think availability is the most important thing. If you can get your SME and get their attention, you can usually overcome all these other issues. You are, after all, working with a pro!

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Make the Most of Your F2F Time with Your SME

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This post is one in a series that answers questions from viewers of the January 28 KnowledgeVision Google Hangout where we talked about the challenges of working with SMEs.

Question from Sarah, Part 2:

Do you have a set of questions that you use for most information-gathering sessions?

We talked about the value of having some standard opening questions and a standard last question in last week’s post. This week we will explore ways to make the most of your face-to-face time to ask questions that take the best advantage of the personal interview.

My best example is my current project. I am in the final stages of writing a book for a retired CEO who has taught leadership classes. I have loads of class notes and material, but the value of our weekly two-hour interviews is that we are uncovering the kind of detail that wouldn’t make it into his class notes. During our talks, he mentions extra materials from classes and seminars he has taught that helps the book tremendously. When you familiarize yourself with information before the interview, the interviews really are for, what journalists call, color.

In face-to-face interviews you get a sense of context and the “why” behind certain facts or recommended courses of action. It is one level of detail to say, “Involve your employees in customer contact”. It is another level of impact to tell a story about the time he took an employee off the manufacturing line along on a  business trip to Turkey, the results it won for the customer and the employee’s improved attitude toward his job.

I am always learning something new about how to improve the process. With this particular subject matter expert, I record all our sessions, something I recommend for all your SME interviews. What I learned from this encounter is that he says something useful as he walks in the door and then may throw out another important fact as he leaves. I have learned to click on the record button the minute I see him and I don’t click stop until he is gone. When you are working with someone who is colorful and constantly throwing out gems of information, catch every little bit. Many of your high-level (unconscious competent) SMEs will fit into this niche.

As one last little tidbit, some of his commentary is so impactful that we may use some of the audio from the interview sessions in the materials as links to mp3s. When you are dealing with a charismatic leader or person with some significance, you don’t want to lose anything. Their own words are often the very best, so capture and use audio and video whenever possible so your expert can connect directly with the learner.

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Standard Questions to Ask Your Subject Matter Experts

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This post is one in a series that answers questions from viewers of the January 28 KnowledgeVision Google Hangout where we talked about the challenges of working with SMEs.

Question from Sarah:

Do you have a set of questions you use for most information-gathering sessions?

Yes. I have standard set of opening and closing questions leftover from my reporter days, and they are good ones when you are gathering info for a training program too.

For the standard first question, check their name, spelling, title, division, business unit, contact info just to make sure those things are correct. It seems like a simple thing, but it is good to have it. If you are an internal to the organization, you will probably have those things at your fingertips, but if you are an outside training organization, you want to double check your information with your client. More than once, a person’s job title changed from the time a training project started and to the time it was completed.

For the standard last question,  ask them what you didn’t ask them. For example, say, “Is there anything else you can think of that I didn’t ask you that is important for the learner to know? What would you like the learner to know that we haven’t covered?” This is a good question because you may find out that their mind goes somewhere else completely on the matter, and you can pick up some good information with that last question. Assume you don’t know what you don’t know.

As for the messy middle, if I don’t know the topic or the person, I will ask for materials to study before I meet with them. Ask for  journal articles, checklists, slide presentations and, any material they may have in their files to give you some grounding in the topic. And then, I develop a set of questions out of those materials.

Preparation can make the interview process go more quickly and smoothly than if you enter an informational session with your subject matter expert without doing your homework first.

 

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Preparing You and Your SME for an Interview

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This post is one in a series that answers questions from viewers of the January 28 KnowledgeVision Google Hangout where we talked about the challenges of working with SMEs.

Question from Sarah:

Do you send SME’s pre-work or questions ahead of time or prefer to wait until you meet face-to-face? Best practices for this would be helpful.

Yes, if you think that your subject matter expert may need to assemble some materials for you or in any way prepare something to give you, you can send them an outline of your interview in advance. Usually, when a SME is asked to participate in a learning program they already understand their focus. However, you can send them questions before you meet with them is you want them to think about a specific topic in some detail, but it isn’t usually necessary.

If you need your SME to provide content for a system or process you’ve already outlined, it helps to provide that in advance so they can think about how their material is best presented in that format.

On the other hand, if I anticipate that the subject is difficult or complex, I ask for pre-work from the SME so I can prepare.

  • Do they have articles or books that they’ve written that they can provide to you for background?
  • Do they have best practices that they’ve codified and can give you with a template, list or system?
  • Have they given a speech on the topic and have a slide presentation that would be helpful?
  • Are there newspaper or journal articles written about them or their topic?

Ask them if they have those types of background materials because when you’ve done a little advance homework, you are more able to be focused in your questioning.

Essentially, anything that you can do to prepare both yourself and your SME for an in-depth interview session will help you both have a more productive session.

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More Input on Incentivizng your Subject Matter Expert

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This post is one in a series that answers questions from viewers of the January 28 KnowledgeVision Google Hangout where we talked about the challenges of working with SMEs.

Question from Denise:

Other than the great feeling of “I’ve helped my company out…” are there standard incentives you suggest to offer a SME who you are taking away from their job – where they may be losing money?

We received several questions about incentivizing SMEs, so I thought the topic deserved more attention.

It’s hard to pull people away from jobs where they are paid for performance to do something that doesn’t overtly result in monetary rewards. Recently, one client pulled district sales managers away from their sales duties to help with training, and they got a lot of resistance to participate for that reason.

We kicked around offering a bonus for being part of the program and giving them some kind of recognition, certificate or award. Another option is to require training as part of the job responsibilities that will be reflected in their reviews and job performance. In the case of the above-mentioned situation, there was resistance and part of the program had to be severely cut back due to a lack of participation.

In the book Working with SMEs I talk a little about resistance  from people who, for any number of reasons, don’t want to take time out of their regular responsibilities to be a subject matter expert for your training program. One of the recommendations is to fall back on “you are helping the company out” and remind them that their coworkers and colleagues who are trained on these materials are going to be working with them.

It is a tough issue because you need to incent people somehow. If you require an employee to participate in developing or delivering training, you have to make it worth their while. If you require it and they perceive that they are losing money, or losing time on a pet project by being involved as a SME in your training program, you may encounter some attitude and pushback. It isn’t fun for you, and quite honestly, you are probably not getting everything you need from your SME, either.

I am interested in hearing more ideas from people who have successfully negotiated this problem.