The Rationale: Journalism as an ID Training Ground

Subject matter experts are some of my favorite people. That is why this book is a labor of love. A geek at heart, I am fascinated by someone who hasn't looked up from a petri dish in 40 years, or someone who has been tinkering in the guts of the financial system, awash in banking acronyms. Admittedly, my eyes are glazed over for the first few weeks of our relationship while the expert waxes eloquently about their passion, but I am fascinated nonetheless.

I started my career as a journalist; in retrospect, it is an excellent training ground for instructional designers (IDs). Journalism prepares you to go into new situations, learn new things and ask basic questions to understand how something works – all so you can explain it to others. Like journalists, instructional designers may eventually acquire a level of expertise themselves.

And, like journalism, corporate and organizational training is about telling people things that other people know and do. Instructional design is how you tell it. Working with SMEs is learning what to tell. A great training program masters both of these pieces. The training field has a few standard models about how to structure training; there is precious little on how to gather content in a systematic way.

The science of technical documentation is a field in itself. When you are Working with SMEs, the tools for capturing and organizing information are essential. Many training departments and consulting firms have processes and templates to standardize technical documentation. Chapter 7 of this book is based on some of those tools and techniques. However, the whole technique of working with subject matter experts is more intricate than simple technical documentation, and therefore needs its own methodology.

Models for designing training are just that – models that reflect a perfect structure and methodology for imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes. Most instructional designers create training programs using the ADDIE model – Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate, or some variation of it. Therefore, the model for Working with SMEs is built on the ADDIE structure to determine what good information gathering looks like.

Working with SMEs and the ADDIE Methodology

A training program has two parts:

1. Instructional design is how to structure and relate knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) in a systematic way.

2. Working with SMEs is about how to collect information from the right people, select what is relevant and organize it in a systematic way.

As part of the information collection process, training departments usually develop templates for review cycles and signoffs with subject matter experts, but there is not an established methodology in ID literature about how to select the SME, then collect and organize information.

Instructional designers have their favorite models for designing training, and they are usually some variation of the ADDIE model. The Working with SMEs methodology covers the entire ADDIE spectrum. The intense information-gathering phase begins at Analysis, in which you collect most information from subject matter experts. Content gathering carries through the process as you organize content and refine your program through development to evaluation, including review and signoff milestones.

Specifically, in the Analysis phase, you list resources, including the people who will serve as your subject matter experts. During this preliminary phase, the information you gather influences the project scope based on what you are learning. At this point, subject matter experts provide you with data, notes and information that you may be supplementing with focus groups, surveys and other data collection tools.

By the time you reach the Design phase, the specifications are driven by your audience, learning objectives and the activities that are best suited to achieve your overall performance goals. During this phase, clients approve graphics, software and any other criteria for presentation of the program, and SMEs are in the review cycle.

After Development, both the SMEs and the project stakeholders should sign off on all phases of the project before implementation. Ideally, the formal Evaluation phase occurs at least 30 to 60 days after Implementation to find out if learning "stuck." Based on the results of the Evaluation, the program may require content adjustments which frequently involve a second iteration of the ADDIE process.

What Should a Working with SMEs Methodology Include?

To develop the model for Working with SMEs, first I needed to establish what good information gathering looks like. A best-practices model should contain these four elements that are common to all content-gathering efforts for a training program.

A Working with SMEs methodology:

• Provides instructional designers and subject matter experts with a framework for collecting and reviewing content

• Describes the qualities of a good SME and how to work with them

• Works within the existing ID system (we are using ADDIE) and takes into account the already-existing body of knowledge and commonly accepted best practices

Includes a framework for managing the content collection and review cycle

Taking those requirements into consideration, this book is structured around meeting these goals. Let's begin our journey in developing a methodology for Working with SMEs by first defining The Perfect SME.

The Perfect SME

The Perfect SME has three essential qualities. The Perfect SME is:

• The most knowledgeable and articulate person about that topic in the organization

• One who has, or will be given, the time to work with you

• Willing and possibly looking forward to being part of the training design process

If your SME is missing any of these three ingredients, you may have trouble. If that happens and you don't have an alternate SME, we offer tips and tools throughout this book to help you negotiate those issues effectively.

First, whether you've been dealt the Perfect SME or not, you'll need to establish deadlines and clear lines of communication for fact-checking and sign-offs at the very beginning of your relationship. It is unlikely the SME will be tracking those things, and you may not have other supports in place to do it for you. Your project scope or Project Charter should include details about deadlines and lines of responsibility that can help define the relationship.

As...