"Many Instructional Designers (IDs) have a love/hate relationship with the Subject Matter Experts, or SMEs (pronounced "smees"), that we work with to develop instructional materials. We love the fantasy of a competent SME who communicates flawlessly, knows his or her subject inside and out, is never mistaken, is always available to answer our every question, and who in general makes our job easier."
"They didn't choose to work with us on this project; they were assigned to do so-which means they have to shoehorn meetings with us into their already packed schedules. Because they're often responsible for overseeing the process we're training (and may have been responsible previously for training that process), SMEs can perceive us as hired guns swooping in to tell them how it's done-even though we don't know a thing about what they do or how they do it."
Instructional designers often imagine ideal, infallible SMEs but encounter busy, assigned experts who may distrust training or feel undermined. SMEs frequently must fit meetings into packed schedules and can view designers as outsiders imposing methods on their work. Prior poor training experiences can bias SME attitudes and lead to guarded or piecemeal information sharing. Adjusting expectations, approaching SMEs with respect for their time and expertise, and changing collaboration methods can ease workloads for both parties, build stronger working relationships, and result in more effective, usable instructional products.
Read at eLearning Industry
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