3 Ways to Turn Your Subject Matter Expert into Your Biggest Asset
Working with subject matter experts can be a great experience, but it can also be challenging. They don't always understand Learning and Development, they may have competing priorities that take them away from your project, and sometimes they think that they don't really need you.
That’s why, in this episode, I’m sharing how you can turn your subject matter expert into your biggest asset.
Listen to the episode or scroll down to read the blog post ↓
Key Points:
00:58 The challenges of working with a subject matter expert in L&D
02:36 Navigating relationships with subject matter experts
03:42 3 Ways to make working with your subject matter experts a success
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3 Ways to Turn Your Subject Matter Expert into Your Biggest Asset
Do any of these statements sound familiar?
“I need a training. It should be a 30 minute eLearning.”
“Just make it pretty.”
“I'll tell you everything the trainer needs to say, and you just write it down.”
“Why don't you just watch me deliver this training and document what I do?”
“I don't like that color. Pick a different one.”
And while I hope these statements don’t sound familiar, I realize they probably do.
These are all things that have been said to me by subject matter experts in my 20ish year career in L&D.
Working with subject matter experts can be a great experience.
They are passionate about their work.
They often believe in the power of training.
They can be excited to contribute to the project.
But, working with subject matter experts can also be challenging.
They don't always understand Learning and Development.
They may have multiple competing priorities that take them away from your project or your deliverables.
Sometimes they think they can do it on their own and that they don't really need you.
I'm here to tell you that you can have a great relationship with your subject matter expert, and you can create a great working experience. In fact, you can turn your subject matter expert into your biggest asset.
In this blog post, we’re covering the following:
1) How to Build Strong Partnerships with Subject Matter Experts in L&D
I've worked with a lot of subject matter experts in my career, and I consider myself pretty easygoing and easy to work with, but I've also had my fair share of challenging subject matter expert experiences as well.
That’s why I want to share my approach to working with subject matter experts.
It's based on everything I've learned over the past 20 or so years working in L&D - lots of subject matter expert interactions, lots of projects (sometimes 10 a year when working internally), different organizations, different content areas, different project goals, and as you can imagine, lots of different final products.
But, all of these projects required me to navigate relationships with subject matter experts and figure out how to make the project successful. And while sometimes this comes more naturally than others, here's what I learned…
It comes down to three things:
Connection
Clarity
Impact
2) Connection - Build a Relationship with Your Subject Matter Expert
What do I mean by connection? Build real relationships with your subject matter experts.
I want relationships that are built on respect and trust.
I always want to acknowledge what the subject matter expert is contributing to the project.
They have years of experience.
They know this content inside and out.
They are often either connected to or part of the intended audience for the training.
They bring a lot to the table professionally. And so do I.
I've built hundreds of learning experiences for diverse audiences.
I stay current on industry trends and best practices.
I've put in the reps from an L&D perspective.
So it's built on mutual respect. But, our professional selves are only one part of who we are. I also want to know my subject matter expert on a more personal level.
So you'll often hear me sharing small personal stories in meetings.
I moved my office and you can now see a Barbie dollhouse in my background. I pointed it out to my subject matter expert and we had a good laugh.
When I asked my middle child what she thought my job was, she said that I save things under the water. I shared her response with my subject matter experts and told them that a mermaid was my new alter ego.
When my mom passed away unexpectedly, I shared I'd be out of the office for a bit.
Real. Life. Things.
Good things.
Hard things.
Bad things.
Little glimpses into real life.
This is so important to connection. So you can often find me asking my subject matter experts about their families, their hobbies, or their weekend plans.
3) Clarity - Set Roles, Responsibilities, and Expectations for the Training Project
The second thing that I found important is clarity.
Be clear on roles and responsibilities and set expectations for the project, for their role, and for yours.
I always say that the subject matter expert's job is to look out for the content. And my job is to look out for the learner. The subject matter expert is an expert in the content and I am an expert in how adults learn. And together we can create something really amazing.
But, it has to be clear.
A project kickoff is a great way to set these expectations.
What is your role as the L&D person?
What is their role as a subject matter expert?
How will you work together?
How will you work independently?
When and how often will you meet?
Take a look at this episode for some more information on project kickoffs:
This is all part of being clear on roles and responsibilities. And once you're clear on that, it's important to maintain clarity throughout the project.
We want to be good project managers, so set clear project milestones and communicate those milestones continuously. It should be a continuous process, never a surprise.
Align your deliverables with meetings so you can discuss and make decisions together.
Making big decisions in the project together and communicating consistently is really what helps ensure clarity throughout the project. So make sure you're establishing and maintaining clarity.
4) Impact - Work With Your Subject Matter Expert to Create Impact
Now, the final piece of the puzzle is impact.
What does success look like for this project?
You're working together to create impact. That's exciting and something you want to be a part of, but it's easy to lose sight of that when you're deep into the development process.
It's so important to:
Find what success looks like
Narrow in on the behaviors it takes to get there
Create clear objectives related to that
Stick to your scope
As discrepancies or disagreements come up around the content, you can go back to those objectives and the impact you're trying to create and have a discussion about the path forward.
It keeps those conversations so much more manageable and so much more agreeable because you're working toward impact.
I don't think any of us get this right 100% of the time, but that is always my goal.
I can't imagine working on a project without a subject matter expert. We need them to be part of the process and I want them to be a part of the process. So let's make sure we're working well together.
It's for the good of the training.
It's for the good of the organization.
It's for the good of the people we serve.
To hear the full conversation I had on the Learning for Good Podcast, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 108.
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