How to Keep the Peace with SMEs

Interview with Elizabeth N., Susan H. and Marta B. – Teradata Corporation

In a list provided prior to this interview, Teradata Corporation’s interviewees itemized the top 10 things to do in managing SME relationships:

1. Make sure you have buy-in and support from the SME's manager.

2. Clearly define the expectations for your SME (time commitment, area of expertise, etc.)

3. Establish roles and responsibilities. Some SMEs take pride of ownership — if that is the case, try to work with it.

4. Keep communication open with regular status meetings, even if they are short.

5. Recognize a SME’s participation with management — both theirs and yours.

6. Reward the SME’s activities if appropriate. For example, we may give gift cards when the project is complete or include their names on project award submissions.

7. Treat SMEs as part of the development team to ensure their buy in.

8. Close the loop after the learning deliverable has been deployed. Follow up with them to let them know how many students are taking the training, how much they like it, etc.

9. Sometimes the SME isn't actually a subject matter expert, or they may try to take the project over. When you have problems with a SME, tread delicately and involve management, but don't try to cover it up!

10. "Expert" learning in a social learning environment is the way of the future.  Try to involve and engage your SMEs on projects that drive on-the-job and social learning.

Why is it important to maintain a peaceful environment with SMEs?

Elizabeth: Maintaining a peaceful, cooperative environment is inherently important because we depend on SMEs’ expertise to ensure our training is complete, correct, and that it achieves the learning objectives.

How do you prevent a non-peaceful situation with SMEs?

Elizabeth: While non-peaceful situations such as conflicts may result from factors outside of our control, we do everything we can to prevent them. The Top Ten Rules for Working with SMEs is a good way to establish a productive working relationship.

Susan: At the beginning of a project, it’s important to establish expectations, what each of us can expect from each other and clear communication.

Marta: I agree that the Top Ten Rules are helpful in keeping the peace. Agreement on everyone’s roles and responsibilities in a training project makes it easier for the SMEs, who have their actual jobs to do as well.

What are some possible scenarios when there is no peace with SMEs? How do you handle issues with SMEs?

Elizabeth: In some cases, SMEs believe they are not just the subject expert, but the training expert as well. This can cause a problem, especially if the “right answer” is based solely on opinion. Luckily for us, most of our content is technical, so the issue can be resolved by researching the facts or actually trying out the products.

Susan:  There could also be schedule conflicts, but usually the SME has a stake in what we are doing. When they are invested in the project, they are motivated to get their part done and on time, so that helps a lot.

Marta: Another non-peaceful situation is when multiple SMEs do not agree. In some cases, you may need to find other ways to achieve the goal without relying entirely on identified SMEs.

Susan: Yes, sometimes you have to go in other directions, determine what the issues are and, if necessary, escalate it. There are always people who may be able to help resolve an issue.

Elizabeth: Get your stakeholders involved from the beginning, they could be the SME’s management. You might also need to reach out to others, such as representatives of the student audiences for which the training is intended.

Do you try to create a friendship or partnership with SMEs? Why is it important to establish credibility and how do you encourage SMEs to collaborate?

Susan: Our group tends to be a collaborative group and friendly with our colleagues. Our first goal is a partnership, which is either there at the outset or developed over time. Many of us have worked together over the years, so that friendship can be beneficial. Also, when a SME actually has some competency on the aspects of training that you need, you can develop and deliver the training together.

Marta: The SMEs also want the training to be successful, because then the company is successful. A lot of SMEs are good at explaining the big picture, which helps to set context for the students. Whatever they do to develop a high-quality project will add to their success, and it helps when they understand there is benefit in it for them, too.

Elizabeth: If you can prove to SMEs that it is mutually beneficial for them personally to help you create the learning deliverable, they will have more of a stake in it.

What are some proactive ways you can maintain a peaceful environment for SMEs, such as showing an interest, being a great listener, communicating regularly, or holding periodic meetings?

Elizabeth: It goes back to the Top 10 list (above). To encourage an environment that is conducive to success, it helps to respect SMEs’ time by proactively setting up the project, from individual roles and management buy-in to post-project recognition.

Susan: The key is to tell the SMEs upfront what they need to do and keep them informed throughout the project so they can schedule their lives. Keeping the SMEs informed, I think, is the best proactive method for managing SMEs. That way, the SMEs can see how their work is being used and how their contributions contribute to the project.

Why is it important to set clear expectations up front with SMEs and to agree upon them? Is it important to create a flow chart of responsibilities and timelines? Should you set false deadlines in case they are not met?

Marta: Clear expectations are critical. We like to establish action items and due dates with the SME. It is good to then follow up periodically with the SME on the progress toward the milestones and to find out if they need anything from us to meet those dates.

Susan:  Depending on the project, we have processes and templates that we use in our training plans to set clear expectations. If the SME is not involved by a certain time then the milestones may slip, and most likely the deadlines would be projected to slip. At times, training milestones may be so heavily tied to a deadline that a product cannot be released until the deadlines are met.

Marta: Our training plans list the expectations, responsibilities, and deadlines. Because the training plan is approved by the SMEs or their management at the beginning of projects, we can then later refer to it with the SMEs if we have not heard from them and a deadline is approaching.

Elizabeth: I believe in establishing trust. Creating false deadlines does not build trust. They will just lead the SMEs to think it is OK if their work is late. They may eventually view every deadline as a false deadline. It also damages our credibility as a partner in the project.

Susan: While these are “hard” deadlines, in reality we all have to agree on them.

How accommodating do you need to be with SMEs in terms of your schedule, working model, etc?

Marta: We can be accommodating based on the project circumstances and the SMEs’ other job responsibilities. Due to their positions, some SMEs have less time from the beginning, and we can weigh those factors when we choose a SME for a project.

Elizabeth: There are various ways we can be flexible working with the SMEs. As Marta said, it also depends on the project. For example, I have worked shoulder-to-shoulder doing work together with SMEs in the past.

Susan: It does depend on factors such as deadlines that determine how accommodating we can be.

Should you show the SMEs an example of what you want to produce? Will this prevent future misunderstandings or project delays?

Marta: I absolutely agree that you should tell the SMEs what you expect, which prevents delays or misunderstandings. Again, it goes back to communication. The more information you can give the SMEs about what you want, the better they can determine what they want to do and how long it will take them.

How important is it to prevent breakdown in communication by confirming you and the SMEs are on the same page? Will bombarding SMEs create an unhappy situation?

Elizabeth: Yes, I think it is important to make sure everyone is in agreement, then follow up to confirm this. Discussions and agreements make it easier for everybody.

Susan:  Definitely, that is why clear communication is built into our training plans. We inc lude a schedule in the plan and get feedback from everyone on the project team, including those who deploy the completed training. Our internal training plan does identify one person as the main point of contact for the particular bit of information the SME is responsible for. We try to avoid having multiple people contact the SME.

Tell me about your past experience working with SMEs in a non-peaceful situation and how you managed to keep the peace.

Elizabeth:  Because we have really good relationships with SMEs 95 percent of the time, it is usually painfully obvious when there is a problem. We would initially try to work it out with the SME, but we may end up having to go around them.

Marta:  We are lucky because our SMEs have been productive and brilliant.

Elizabeth: I also think the relationships are productive because we continue our efforts to establish a level of credibility with our SMEs. As the learning experts, we can use our expertise to advise product development groups on various training modes and which ones work well, or which ones require more effort or time. When the working relationships are based on professionalism and mutual respect, we end up going back to them often and getting their cooperation. 

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