The Reluctant Subject Ma0er Expert or Helping people work effec/vely with you 1 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer, MS and Ann Marie Queeney
May 08, 2015
The Reluctant Subject Ma0er Expert
or
Helping people work effec/vely with you
1 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
For many of us, our success as professional communicators depends on how successfully we work with
SMEs.
2 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
The ideas in this presenta/on are based on wri/ng techniques,
however, they are valid for use in other
professions.
3 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Always remember: ProducLve relaLonships with SMEs
don’t happen by accident.
4 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
The acquisiLon of informaLon is managed for some writers.
5 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Situa/on normal in some departments and companies:
Providing informaLon to the tech writer is low priority.
(But, what’s up with that?)
6 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
With shy and elusive SMEs, we find that their bad behaviors oIen fall
into two categories:
• Avoidance • Antagonism
7 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
We resort to hun/ng SMEs.
8 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
SME hunLng by tech writers tends to fall into three categories:
• Stalking • Using clever lures to draw them into traps
• Making offers they can’t refuse
9 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
What if you could get SMEs to seek you out in order to give you info?
! I’d die of surprise. ! I wouldn’t know what to do with all the Lme I’d be saving.
! I’d know for certain that I was dreaming.
10 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
OK, let’s dream about some reali/es:
• Most people like to talk shop.
• Most people like to tell their stories.
• Good storytellers always have audiences. • Almost everyone wants to be an author.
11 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Here’s a key convenient truth:
Almost no one wants to do the hard work of wri/ng, and that’s
where we’re the experts.
☺ 12
The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer, MS and Ann Marie Queeney
SME Hunter vs. Knowledge Partner
SME hunter Knowledge partner
Short-‐term focus: Concerned with immediate project.
Long-‐term focus: Builds knowledge base for later projects and expands your influence.
Quick fixes: Driven by necessity, results can be uneven.
Able to address problems at their source: results are higher in quality.
Seen by others as necessary evil, annoyance, obstacle, or roadblock.
Seen by other as a contributor and part of the team.
Not integrated into project. Fully integrated into project.
Ogen excluded. Ogen invited and included.
13 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
The magic elixir:
We’ve got story!
The art and crag of wriLng gives us an amazingly powerful set of tools…
14 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
We writers are astute observers.
Within our roles as writers, we make careful observaLons with respect to:
• Sekngs
• Characters • Dramas
15 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Working as knowledge partners, we:
• Set the stage for collaboraLon. • IdenLfy SME “red flag” behavior and deflect their pull into unproducLve dramas.
• Realize that we control our own acLons and not those of others.
• Respect others: listen carefully to their stories, show appropriate empathy, and stay flexible.
• Recognize that communicaLon skills are useful beyond the page and use them to build mutually beneficial relaLonships.
16 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Observe your work sekng. Ques/ons about your company culture
to answer and revisit occasionally:
• Is the work environment informal or formal? • Is the power structure hierarchical or is power shared, implicitly or explicitly?
• What are the spoken/unspoken rules?
• Are there hidden agendas?
17 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
SME roles (character) within sekng
An SME responds as a character within a sePng. Sco0 Myer’s five character archetypes:
Protagonist Nemesis A0ractor Mentor Trickster
How do you see your SME? How does your SME see you?
18 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
An essenLal “how to” for creaLng drama:
What a character wants is at odds with what they need.
So, how do we reduce office drama?
19 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Dealing with unintenLonal sabotage
• Recognize when our SMEs’ well-‐intenLoned efforts cause problems.
• Recognize when our own well-‐intenLoned efforts cause problems.
You can usually get your project back on track aIer an incident of uninten/onal sabotage.
20 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
More on unintenLonal sabotage
• Special case: the talented SME with character flaws
• Special case: when you as a writer discover that a situaLon is pushing you beyond your limits
21 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
While most sabotage is unintenLonal, occasionally it’s
not…
22 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney
Expanding on strengths, both ours and others:
We can make everyone look be0er.
23 The Reluctant SME; © 2014 Elisa Sawyer,
MS and Ann Marie Queeney