Working with Subject Matter Experts

(SMEs)
Module 3 Train the Trainer

Do you work with subject matter experts (SMEs)? This lesson will reveal
the secrets to translating their knowledge into instructional content. Youll
learn how to arrange logistics, outline content, and deliver the project to
the SMEs and audiences satisfaction, while keeping the content factually
correct and interesting.

Session Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Define a SME

Explain how designers and SMEs interact

Determine scope of work

Build a schedule

Outline the content

Manage deliverables

Retain the SMEs voice

Incorporate feedback

Launch the content

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Working with a Subject Matter Expert (SMEs)

What is a SME?
Subject Matter Experts, or SMEs for short, are experts who have domain knowledge, authority, and
credibility in a specialty or field. They know their work inside and out.

Three Attributes of SMEs
Regardless of their field, a SME generally has three attributes:

1. Years of experience in a field or occupation
2. Information to share, which is commonly called content
3. A level of thought leadership within their sphere of influence

Notice from the list, teaching ability. While some SMEs are also natural teachers with a knack for
educating others, SMEs dont automatically know how best to convey what they know. They know how
best to do what they do. Thats where instructional designers come in. We work with SMEs to learn
enough about the domain and expertise to create compelling education in their voice, helping them
multiply their influence. Our success in partnering with them depends on the relationship we build and
the care we take with our content.

Interacting with SMEs
There are essentially two categories of relationships you will have with a SME. They are:

1) Instructional Designer as a service provider to the SME client In this case you would work with
the SME to produce a product such as online training or some type of document.

2) Instructional Designer as a project manager to the SME stakeholder. In this scenario you would
be working with a SME or a group of SMEs to build a training tool that helps the SMEs
accomplish some type of goal.

Building the Relationship with the SME
Regardless of the role that youll be playing with the SMEs its
important that you build a relationship with the SME.

1) Build a relationship. Take time to get to know each other
and develop trust and rapport. This can be as simple as
sitting down face to face for small talk or as elaborate as
a two hour working lunch to discuss the project.

There are several questions you can ask yourself to test the
relationship strength:
Do you know what the SME does for work?
What (s)he does outside of work for fun?
Significant others name?
Whether or not (s)he has kids or pets?
Whats important about the content and about your SMEs career?
How do they prefer to communicate work with you?

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 2) Honor their content. Regardless of whether youre building instructional content for clerks,
project managers, doctors, or educators, the most important thing is preserving the voice and
tone of the field and the SME. Their content in your words is powerful, but their content in their
words has a ring of authenticity. Thats not to say you wont be able to polish and refine, but
create a safe place for you to mutually explore and shape the content together. That way, theres
trust that the content will be in good hands and treated with respect.

3) Recognize that you can do more together. A great piece of content with a passionate SME but no
instructional design wont go very far in educating others. It takes both skill setsdomain
knowledge and teaching knowledge to educate others with the content.

Get to Know the SME
Candor and communication is a benchmark of the
health and strength of a relationship. SME
interactions are no different. First you build a
relationship, then you build your communication
skills, and over time youre rewarded with trust.
Its worth the time investment to get to know your
SME and his or her work so you can build that
foundation from day one.

1) Research your SME
Its always a good idea to do some research on
your SME before you even have your first meeting
with them. Tools you can use are already at your
fingertips. Does your SME have a webpage? Does
the SME have a social media presence?

Use the following suggested SME Research form to help you gather information about your SME. Things
that you are looking for include: background information, different resources that they may have posted
or have access to, how (s)he likes to interact with their audiences, things that are meaningful to them,
history, and expertise.

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SME Research Template

Basic Information
SME Name:

Goes by:

Contact Address:

Phone:

Preferred mode of contact;

Accessibility (high or low):

Bio:

Expertise
Occupation:

Experience (years of work, special projects, etc.):

Website:

Teaching positions (and where):

Link to published articles/works:

Books:

Videos:

Social media links (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, blog):

Preferences, specialties, distinctions:

Motivation for doing work:

Content Information
Central ideas or concepts:

Target audience:

Preferences or biases:

Future directions of content:

Words to summarize their focal point and priorities:

Areas of clarification or concern:

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Establishing the Relationship
Once you feel prepared, its time to set up that first call meeting with your SME
so you can kick off the project. This is where youll set the tone for the
relationship, and learn more about your SME. By the end of it you should have
a complete project scope of work document so youre both clear on what
youre doing. A scope of work document can help you and the SME define the
parameters of the project so it can reach successful completion.

When you have this meeting:
Show up early
Be prepared
Be an active listener
Ask lots of questions

For the initial meeting its probably a good idea to set the meeting to last about an hour. Regardless of
the time you take, figure that you will spend about a third of it getting to know each others work and
establishing the relationship; a third focused on the project vision, and the final third setting up your
schedule. Certainly, adjust the timing to depend upon the complexity of the project and your schedule.

Do concentrate on developing the relationship. Diving right into work is a recipe for a stiff, detached
relationship that makes it harder for you to work together. Look for a connection point or a place where
you and the SME can connect on something outside the project. The main goal is to find a connection
that sets you up for a go to nonwork pleasantries that you can rely on through the course of your
relationship. Over time youll build this set of connection points to be robust and deeper than they are
on this first call. But its your job to set the stage to be comfortable with each other. Once youve broken
the ice, be ready with some standard questions you can ask to start the relationship on the right foot.

Some initial questions to ask:
What drew you to this field?
Whats most important to you about how you teach the topic?
If there is one message you want to leave in peoples minds, what is it?

Let the SME talk you listen!

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Instructional Design Project Kickoff Scope of Work
Instructional Designer:

SME:

Kickoff call date and time:

Contact details:

Phase 1: Establishing the Relationship
In the first part of the call you want to establish your working relationship and apply the great
information youve already researched about your SME. This portion of the call might take 1020
minutes depending on total call length.

1. What drew you to this field?

2. Whats most important to you about how you teach this topic?

3. If theres one think your message should leave in peoples minds, what is it?

4. Notes about SME speech patterns, interests, etc.:



Phase 2: Setting up a Shared Vision
In this second part of the call, you want to establish the scope and vision for your project. This portion
of the call might take 1020 minutes depending on total call length.

1. Who is the audience?

2. What does the audience need?

3. Will the final product be a manual, an elearning course, a video course, a training guide, or
something else?

4. What topics will it cover?

5. How long will it be?

6. How do you reach your audience? (Register for classes, obtain handouts, etc.)

7. How do you plan on handing administrative details? (Getting instructors, attendance, rooms, etc.)


Notes about the project specifications:

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Housekeeping Details

1. Communication method (Phone, Video Chat, Email, Text, Inperson, etc.)?

2. How do you like to give feedback to me, and how do you like to receive feedback from me?

3. SME availability and yours (are you fully devoted to this project, both juggling this and others,
etc.)

4. Big events on your calendars (Is there anything coming up in your schedule or personal life that
might impact the project? If so, how can we plan around it?)

5. An open understanding of budget if its a part of your projectgetting a sense for what the
availability is even if you arent finalizing.

Phase 3: Building a Schedule
In this final part of the call, you want to establish the schedule youll keep. This portion of the call might
take 10 20 minutes depending on the total call length.

1. Project completion date:

2. Project Start Date:

3. Project task list:




4. Project milestone list:

5. Sequenced schedule:


6. Accountability notes:

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Setting a Shared Vision
The next part of your call is when you shift to project mode, talking about the specifics of what youll co
create. Some of the project details might be ones you dictate and others might be ones the SME weights
in on. So the key is a collaborative conversation to agree on outcomes and establish your ground rules.

Youll want to nail down:
Who your audience is
What does the audience need
What will the final product look like? (e.g. manual, elearning, etc.)
What topics will be covered?
How long will it be?

Each of these questions is going to take a little bit of conversation to answer. So give yourself space to
talk through the pros and cons of the different methods/tools you could build the training in, or the ways
a manual might get put together. Youll obviously share your guidance and best practices here, while
your SME will likely talk more about what the content would benefit from in their minds.

Youll also want to establish some housekeeping details in this part of the call such as the preferred
communication preference, how you like to give and receive feedback, yours and your SMEs availability,
and if there are any budget or technical concerns. You dont have to finalize it right now.

Building a Schedule
Building a project schedule is one of the most important goals of your phone call as the schedule
determines whether you go somewhere quickly or nowhere slowly. Use the following four step process
to make scheduling painless:

1. Determine the final date and working backwards to determine how long you have to complete
your project, and what your start date will be.

2. Work out the major tasks that need to be accomplished and how long they take by listing our
every step in detail. Be sure to put an estimated time to accomplish each task next to that specific
task.

3. Build a schedule breakdown with your SME that includes dates and deliverables. You and your
SME should clarify:

What is due (document, feedback, meeting, etc.)
Who it is due by (you, the SME, or some other resource)
When it is due (a hard date and time)

4. Establish agreement on accountability. Discuss what measures youll agree to take for a late work
or delays. Does missing a milestone have significant impact upon other parts of the timeline?
Identify the most critical pieces that HAVE to get done so the project doesnt completely fail.

The hardest part of the project usually is the accountability aspect. By establishing accountability
guidelines, its helpful to set everyone involved with the project up for success by being extremely
organized. You can pop reminders on peoples calendars for due dates or send project recap emails so
everyone is clear on whats coming when.


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Think of yourself as the leader. Its your job to facilitate other doing theirs, so when in doubt, make sure
youre finding out the best way to communicate deadlines and schedule priorities to each person your
project affects. By the end of the first meeting, you and your SME should have a clear scope of word
document for the project. It should include scope details, what I know now about any budget or
technical needs, and a timeline. You should share the Scope of Work document with your SME for
signoff.

Outlining the Content
Outlining the content is the part of the instructional design
that becomes the clay you and your SME fashion into
meaningful education. There are three ways that you can
start this process:

1) The SME outlines the content from their material,
then the instructional designer and SME edit it
together

2) The instructional designer outlines the content from
background material, the SME provides additional materials, and then together you both edit it

3) The instructional designer interviews the SME and develops and outline on the fly as you both are
talking. You both then edit it at the end.

First Approach: SME Outlines the Content from Their Material
This first approach is where the SME does the first pass outline of the content and then the instructional
designer takes a look to check if its instructionally sound, whether it makes sense for the audience, and
if there are any glaring holes or issues.

Approach works for:
Seasoned SMEs who can practically outline content in their sleep
SMEs who also have natural teaching ability
Those who have a lot of time for the project
Those who like to be intimately involved in how their content is translated.

Approach does not work for:
Busy SMEs
Those who are less interested in the project as a whole
SMEs who are working with you because they want to do less work
SMEs who are new to teaching or translating their content

What youll review for in this approach:
1) Flow and authenticity
o Does the original content teach you the topic?
o Are the big topics there and do you see the kinds of words or terms that you would expect?
o Does it match the 70% test? In other words, is the outline content around 70% of what
youd expect to be there at the level it needs to be at? (Does the content look right or not?)

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 2) Content Chronology
o If you read these outline titles one after the other in sequence does the story start to
appear, does that story make sense?

3) Fact Finding and what we are missing
o Whats not there/
o What did I expect and not get?
o Any gaps or opportunities?

Frame outline feedback in question form rather than imperative form to protect the relationship youve
established with your SME.


Second Approach: Instructional Designer Outlines the Content from Background Materials and
SME
This approach is where the instructional designer takes a first pass at outline the content with the SME
looking over the work to check for factual correctness, ordering, and any missed points. This approach
is where the SME appreciates your initiative and can then fact check and tweak your work, usually with
minimal changes. You will need full access to the SMEs documents, original material, and any notes they
have about the content.

Sometimes the SME will be so pressed for time or poor at outline that it makes the most sense to
everyone for you to do the first pass. This approach can often be much simpler and more efficient, and
even the quickest of the three methods. In the long run, however, its much better for everyone if you
teach your SME to give you what you need so theyre in the drivers seat as opposed to you taking the
lead. That said, in high production capacity pipelines, tight deadline environments, or even situations
where you know exactly what you want a piece of content to look like, this route can be right for your
projects.

Use this approach as a tool at your disposal and make the call when its enabling a SME who should be
doing it on their own, and when its the right method for your project.

Approach works for:
The SME who has limited time
Doesnt really want to be bothered with the project
Isnt used to touching much of his or her content anymore because of other commitments or
priorities
SME who is willing to share any and all existing documentation related to the project

Approach does not work for:
SMEs not willing to provide you full disclosure on documentation that they have related to the
content of the project
SMEs who are used to being very involved in each step
SMEs developing content for a specific medium for the first time

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Three things to keep in mind:
1) Adopt the mindset of the learner You have to have enough confidence in the material and the
background research to present a credible quality outline. If you barely know the topic and
havent done all of your homework, this method is going to backfire, and fast. But if its content
you know a lot about, maybe its what you used to do, youve already done 10 courses in this area,
then youll likely have the information you need to do it justice.

At the same time, you have to adopt the mindset of the beginner learner. The balance is knowing
enough to guide the content, but being able to separate what you might know from what the
learner needs to know.

2) Think chronologically Ask yourself questions such as ..then what happens? What would I need
to do first? What are the overarching principles? What other questions would come up? The
SME will have to validate your instinct here.

3) Invite SME collaboration on those final touches Youre building the skeleton of the course when
you do an outline. It has to be sturdy, but the SME has to make that skeleton into a living
breathing thing. Give them enough to shape and work with so the final product is cohesive and
sensible, but at the same time, let them make those final edits and tweaks to bring the content to
life. Have them look for factual correctness, order of topics, and for any missed points.

The last thing the instructional designer wants the SME to think is that the instructional designer is
telling them how the content needs to be. Rather, you want to ask questions that a learner might have so
that it gives the SME the opportunity to think like a beginner rather than as the expert that they are.
Done right, the outline you put together can be elegant, fast, and helpful, but it always comes back to that
collaboration between the two of you that brings the content to life.


Third Approach: Instructional Designer Interviews SME and Develops Content Outline on the Fly
In this approach the Instructional Designer uses the power of questions to elicit an outline from the SME
in a conversational format. The Instructional Designer assumes the persona of the student of this
content and asks the questions that the beginner might have to determine what belongs and in what
order. They are building the outline on the fly. Later, the content is then shared back with the SME for
review and edits. The benefits of this method is condensing the time it may take that back and forth
collaboration might have. Wellcrafted questions are openended and meant to invite exploration of a
topic. Think of the five ws and one h who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. These types of
questions bring clarity to the person answering them and give the SME new opportunities to think of
their content differently. To pull this off, you need to know enough about the SMEs content to ask these
questions, but not so much that youve formed these hard and fast opinions.

Approach works for:
SMEs who havent found the heart of their content yet and dont know exactly what they want to
say or how to boil down everything they know into whats relevant for this project
SMEs who like the human interaction and need to think out loud to do their best work
SMEs who have time to devote to the project and see a number of ways we could slice and dice
the content

Approach doesnt work for:
SMEs who need to take the lead in the process
Need multiple collaborators on their end to bring all their content together
Have a really rigid idea of what their content should look like
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Questions to ask:

Introductory Questions:
What are the biggest pain points about
this content?
Whats the first thing people need to
know about this content?
Where do people stumble?
Whats the most important thing you
want to leave learners with once they
learn this content?
If you had to distill your content into a just a few main points, whats the first point youd
make? What are the other ones?
Is there a system or process you use to explain this content?
What often surprises people about this content?

MidOutline Questions
So thats Step 1. What happens next?
So let me recap what Im understanding. Then can you tell me if we have any
discrepancies?
Is there a sequence or an order to this part of the process?
Does this connect back to (something else thats been mentioned)?
Are these concepts linked?

Recap Questions
What are we missing? Did we leave anything key out?
Did we cover all the places someone might stumble in learning this and give them
solutions?
What will I be able to do when Im done going through this content were creating?
Let me share the sequence of topics back with you. Can you let me know if I have any in
the wrong order?

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Tips for Managing Deliverables
The way you work with your SME on their deadlines affects their
ability to meet those deadlines. The difference between putting a
calendar reminder on their schedule versus an email that tells them
their due dates can sometimes be the difference between whether or
not they blow the deadline off or they get their information turned
in early. Here are some tips to help you manage your deliverables:

Phone them. Provide phone checkins regularly to stay in
touch.

Use a collaboration project management tool such as
asana.com or trello.com

Provide calendar reminders. Place calendar reminders on the SMEs calendar if you need to keep
them moving. You should put a reminder a week before the due date and a second on the date
itself.

Make sure expectations are clear. Specificity and clear deliverable expectations will make your
project successful. You can say things like Send me that outline by the 15th. You should always
be clear what you want, who is responsible for getting it done, and when the task is due.

Consistency in deliverables may also help. Make your deliverables on Mondays to give your SME
the weekend if need be.

Have one master schedule that shows whats needed and gives the SME a visually pleasing big
picture. You can use Google Drive, Asana.com, Excel or some other solution. This should be kept
in a place that both you and the SME can access.

Motivating and Engaging the SME
The best instructional designers know how to wear multiple hats, sometimes all in the space of an hour
of project work. You may have to play the role of task master, cheerleader, coach, editor, project
manager, and friend. Motivating and engaging your SMEs is one of the most critical parts of building and
maintaining a strong relationship and designing the best instruction for your audience.

1. Develop an ability to put yourself in their shoes, or have empathy, and use that to frame your
collaboration. Listen, care, and problemsolve, and try to understand them rather than
commanding them or telling them what to do. The instructional design process isnt a natural one
for many SMEs. Its more of an extra task on top of a fulltime job, or an exercise that stretches
them in an uncomfortable way. Sure, some of them are doing it as part of their job, but even so,
take a leadership role in this collaboration, and make it your job to develop empathy as your
default. Even when you might be frustrated, or feel like youre doing all the heavy lifting, if you
look at it as your job to make everyone on the project successful, it reframes your efforts in a
positive light.

2. Build success spots. This is where your SME has quick frequent wins that builds momentum and
interest in continuing strong on the project.

3. Make it your job to be transparent and feedback friendly. Notice and appreciate the work your
SME is doing, and let them know how its going.

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Be nice to your SME and make the collaboration, the schedule, and the feedback, opportunities to
connect, rather than confront. A little kindness goes a long way.

Incorporating Feedback
You can tell youre giving feedback well when your SME tells
you that you make them sound and look better.

1) Always provide direct feedback. Bob, I know you told
me you wanted direct feedback when we need to make a
change. So in the spirit of that request, I really think we
need to change how this part is written..

2) Avoid the feedback sandwich. The sandwich is where
you would say a good thing, a thing that needs to be
worked on, and then another good thing. The problem
with this method is that it sends a mixed message to the SME. They heard two positives and one
negative, so, what if they only remember the positive and forget what you need them to do? Look
for specific stand alone moments when good feedbackand only good feedback can be given.
This way when you need to give critical feedback, you can concentrate on delivering only this.
Dont deliver mixed messages. Keep your messages clear.

3) SMEs will also give you feedback. Regardless of whether it is direct or fluffy you will need to
have thick skin.

4) SMEs consider their work sacred. It often represents hundreds of hours of work, hard choices,
long hours, and deep thought. Anything that forces them to reconsider or change what they are
used to doing requires a mental shift and a lot of maturity about their baby. Handle your
feedback with care, but do so directly.

Resolving Common Obstacles
Often times when working with SMEs there
are several common obstacles that will crop
up. Luckily, there are remedies for each of
them that really rest on you setting
expectations and following through with
your SME on your scope of work.

1) SME misjudges the amount of time
your collaboration will take. They
can reach a breaking point, or
dropping off the radar point, where
its radio silence when youre
expecting deliverables or information to roll in. The remedy, give your SME an idea up front of
who much of a job this will be for them, how long it will be, and that it will be a process of giving
and taking feedback.

2) Ask for the commitment you need. Dont just leave it at that with your estimate, be blunt. Can
you give me the time of three to five hours? Its important for you and the SME to hear that yes or
no up front so you can continue to refer back to it if things get dicey.

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 3) If your SME is in a noncooperative stage, its often helpful to take your requests offline and put in
a phone call. Address the elephant in the room expeditiously. You can be direct by telling your
SME Were in danger of needing to cancel our next meeting because we arent prepared for it if I
dont have your feedback by Friday.

4) The SME starts to get really uncomfortable with the collaboration and defensive about the
content and how its changing to accommodate this format or audience. You may hear remarks
such as I dont know how you could possibly take what I do and make it a one hour training
course or but you dont understand or lastly, theres no way this can work. You may hear
criticism behind your back to team members, snide comments, etc. Youll need to have thick skin
here. Realize that this type of obstacle comes from a place of insecurity with the medium, or the
content changes, or maybe even the whole arrangement. Do your best to employ empathy. Its
your job to create an atmosphere of comfort and collaboration always. Try soothing these pangs
of insecurity with simple redirects by acknowledging the SMEs frustration. Tell them that you
need their expertise to finish the project. Then directly ask them Can you help me understand
what we need to adjust to finish the last part of our work together? Its your job to help the SME
be as comfortable as possible.

5) The SME becomes aloof. This is likely because theyve started another project or because they
trust what youre doing so much that they dont see the need to keep investing in the relationship.
This happens like a kind of shorthand when youve worked with someone for a while, and you
have that trust built up. If it happens early or often on project where you need a lot of
participation, it can be a problem. A remedy that often helps is to remind them of yours and the
SMEs commitment and reiteration of what you need to proceed. You can say something like
Bob, I love that you trust me to finalize this handouts on my own, and Im going to assume that if
you dont edit them further before Friday that youre also signing off on all the content being
accurate.

Telling someone youll assume inaction equals an approval or a finalization often jolts them back
to responsibility if theyve been focused elsewhere. The key to handling every obstacle that
comes up is not these magic phrases to turn the collaboration around, though they are terrific.
Its more about an understanding of how to motivate and engage your SME and continue to create
a comfortable environment. This is where your leadership skills get a serious workout on some
projects, and also where you develop the strength to handle any SME interaction with grace and
poise.


Summary
In this course you learned what a SME is, tips on relationship building, outlining the content of your
training, and steps to working with the SME to manage deliverables.

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