Mastering the Art of SME Management

As you know, building strong subject matter expert (SME) relationships during the training development process doesn't just happen like magic. It requires impeccable communication, cooperation, careful planning, flexibility and stamina, just to name a few skills.

As a representative of the training team, you are responsible for exhibiting these skills and for helping other members of the team develop them too.

You are also responsible for bridging the gap between the experts (the SMEs) and the novices (the learners). Think of yourself as the learners' advocate: your job is to determine the information they need to be successful. Then you need to find that information and put it all together in a way that they can understand and remember. The primary way to do this is by working closely with the experts. But what's the best way to go about it?