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WORKINGS U B J E C T M A T T E R

E X P E R T Swith

By Peggy Salvatore, M.B.A.

rganizations are at risk of losing institutional knowledge as employees retire or move on to new positions. Therefore, it is important to have a system to efficiently capture and pass on their acquired expertise.

valuable source of information within an organization, but translating their knowledge into a training program has its challenges. To get the most out of these important people, it is helpful to have an effective process in place.

TWO PARTS OF A WELL-DESIGNED TRAINING PROGRAM

Corporate and organizational training is the process of transferring knowledge

to learners. And, developing content for a training program has two parts:

information, skills and attitudes in a systematic way. Most designers use the ADDIE model or some variation of it.

determining the most relevant information and organizing it in a systematic way.

A great training program masters both of these pieces.

STRUCTURING THE RELATIONSHIP

When developing content for a training program, it is important to select the right

O

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TEN TIPS FOR WORKING WITH SMES

sentence, they are too long and complicated to meet.

Decide on a deadline for finishing the content and tracking progress. a. Write a schedule with milestones for gathering information and checking information.b. Make sure the milestones are on the SMEs schedule. c. Confirm content gathering and content review sessions before they are due. d. If they have an administrative assistant who tracks their schedule, get to know that person and confirm

dates with them as you progress.

Set aside a defined amount of time for information gathering, ideally no more than two-hour sessions. Make sure you have their undivided attention. Neither of you should accept phone calls or be checking email. Keep track of your time during the meeting to stay on schedule.

During content gathering sessions, have an agenda with pre-defined questions, and stick to it.

Get the SME’s permission to record your conversations, live and virtual, especially if the content is technical or difficult for you.

Ask for resources when you don’t understand something. Collect as much information as possible in written form. They may already have written papers, procedures or slide presentations on the topic that will save you both a lot of time.

Do your homework. Look up terminology and concepts that aren’t familiar to you.

Create a glossary for your training program using all the definitions and acronyms you have learned. If you need an explanation, so will your learners.

Have an easy-to-use system for version control of your documents that will be passing between you. Most file naming conventions use course name, date, reviewers’ initials and terminology such as draft or version.

For each step of the way, have a signoff document that tracks their approval of the content.

ONE I

TWO I

THREE I

FOUR IFIVE I

SIX I

SEVEN IEIGHT I

NINE I

TEN I

SMES ARE A VALUABLE

SOURCE OF INFORMATION

WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION,

BUT TRANSLATING THEIR

KNOWLEDGE INTO A TRAINING

PROGRAM HAS ITS CHALLENGES.

to create a solid foundation to ensure the relationship is fruitful.

A good SME has three essential qualities:

persons about that topic in the organization.

work with you.

deadlines and regular communication for fact checking and signoffs in place at the beginning of the initiative is critical to maintaining a good relationship. Since contributing information to your training program is probably not the

the SME will be tracking deadlines closely. So, if you don’t have other supports in place to do

to put the structure in place for yourself and your SME.

THE TROUBLE WITH SMES

The difficulty with SMEs starts when they look up from the petri dish or financial spreadsheet and try to tell you what they are doing. While they are talking eloquently about translational research, you are looking at them and thinking, “Huh?” It is quite possible that they have reached the level of expertise of an Unconscious Competent, that is, they don’t even know how

matter expert you’ve been given to work with has forgotten more than you will ever possibly know about the program you are writing. This is both a gift and a curse.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LEARNING

The four levels of consciousness are known in training literature as the Four Stages of

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Learning. Noel Burch of Gordon Training International is credited with developing this model in the 1970s. Others credit Abraham Maslow as the originator of this concept.

Here are the four levels of learning competence:

1. Unconscious Incompetent: you don’t know what you don’t know

2. Conscious Incompetent: you know what you don’t know

3. Conscious Competent: you know what you know

4. Unconscious Competent: you don’t know what you know

According to The Four Stages of Learning Model, the Unconscious Competent is the

of knowledge. And for that reason, these

of acting as your SME. However, when you look at these four stages of learning on a chart that tracks both knowledge and awareness, you can see where your Unconscious Competent SME might fall short of your ideal SME for the purposes of gathering information in a systematic way. (See Chart 1.)

TACTICS FOR WORKING WITH THIRD AND FOURTH LEVEL COMPETENTS

Often, the ideal SME is in the third stage of learning because a Conscious Competent knows what they know. And if they know what they know, then they are able to explain it to you. SMEs who remember what it is like to learn something are more apt to be able to explain it in a linear way.

Frequently, experts who can explain things well are teaching in a university and are not working in your organization applying their knowledge to building products and developing services. When you are gifted with a SME who has risen to the heights of their career in their field and can still explain what they know, you have truly unearthed a gem.

In either event, Chart 2 describes the traits of third and fourth level experts and how to work with them to achieve the best result.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR SME

matter expert’s level of competence, it is up to you to manage the relationship to get the most out of them efficiently and accurately. Usually, SMEs are extremely busy so they appreciate your diligence and respect for their time.

The main elements of successful content gathering with SMEs are:

they say and collecting all available written documents

review process

be both fun and educational as you learn new things from experts in the field. By

well, you will get the most out of the experience and so will your learners.

Peggy Salvatore is the owner of Health Business Communications and specializes in writing managed care sales training for the pharmaceutical industry. She is the co-author of the e-book, “Working with SMEs.” Email Peggy.

CHART 1. THE IDEAL SME

Conscious Competent

(Third Level Competent)

Unconscious Competent

(Fourth Level Competent)

CHART 2. WORKING WITH THIRD AND FOURTH LEVEL COMPETENTS

patience with your level of ignorance

materials to help you up the learning curve

learning process behind

anybody else in the organization about your

problems lie and how to fix them

training program that helps learners solve problems

thinkers and have a global view of what you are doing

someone else to find the answers you need to build a comprehensive and rich training program and take it to the next level

research on the topic and connect the dots yourself

need to know, and they may not be telling you. You need to ask specific questions to uncover it

the time to explain the basics, so you’ll need to do some research after talking to them

patience to explain what they know. Be thorough, punctual and diligent. Don’t waste their time

TRAITS TACTICS