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The Professional Testing Blog

Subject Matter Experts – Managing them as a Valuable Asset

Co-authored by Vincent Lima and David Cox.

In addition to their mission critical human capital contributions, Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) provide significant industry related social, political and cultural capital to the programs they serve. Not only are credentialing organizations gaining access to their expertise, they are often gaining access to the network of industry relationships that these industry leaders have acquired over many years, making their value  extend well beyond  their contribution of time.  A program that values its product as well as its credibility will choose its SMEs with care and treat them with grateful attention.

Competing for SME’s Time

SMEs serving credentialing programs generally are individuals representing high levels of success, achievement and leadership in their respective fields and as a result often have other competing demands on their time.  Whether a sponsoring organization wants to organize a SME group for an ad hoc meeting or an ongoing standing committee, it is important to manage the SME’s experience so that they will be willing to come back if asked again, or to ensure they remain engaged with any longer term service activities they have made commitments to.

What Motivates SME’s?

A key part of improving SME engagement is understanding what motivates them to volunteer in the first place.  SMEs volunteer for a variety of reasons. Many are motivated by their interest in making a personal contribution to their industry, perhaps influencing change where needed.  Some see these opportunities for expanding their professional experience portfolio with new skills and achievement. Many are simply honored to be asked.  Past surveys however have shown that one of the most significant motivators is to have the opportunity to meet other peers and colleagues and develop valuable social and business connections in their industry while being part of a community activity that is fun and enjoyable.

Building a mutually rewarding experience

To make the most of an organization’s relationship with volunteer SME’s, it is important to assign staff responsibility not just to the task of organizing them to meet, but to the task of ensuring SMEs have an engaging and rewarding experience.  For organizations that are successful in achieving this objective, they can expect to increase interest by others to volunteer, improve retention of the existing pool of SMEs, strengthen priority commitment by SMEs to the organization when choosing among competing demands, and expand the scope of SME commitment to the organization in the future. Fully engaged SME’s are also among the best advocates and ambassadors for credentialing programs.

How can the SME experience be improved?

It’s a simple but profoundly true principle that the first step to improving SME engagement is to  make a conscious decision to create a valuable experience.  It’s one thing to ask for a show of hands to attend a meeting at a certain time, date and location, and entirely another to set about to understand what the details and emotions of that journey are from the perspective of the SME.  One technique used heavily in customer service design known as experience mapping offers a useful approach in documenting the journey of subject matter experts.

The general idea behind experience mapping is to consider each point of interaction and contact an SME has with an organization and understand what that experience looks and feels like. Experience mapping begins by examining in detail the journey taken by the SME with the organization from start to finish.  The best sources of information would be directly from SME’s derived from interviews, surveys or even short discussions at the close of a meeting for the express purpose of making their future experiences better.

By breaking down each task and interaction (sometimes referred to as touchpoints) that a SME has with your organization, you can further determine points of pain, confusion and frustration as well as deviations with their expectations. In general you will discover that most issues identified can be remedied by improvements that cost very little.

Touchpoint examples

So what are examples of touchpoints that our clients’ SMEs have shared with us as frustrations or positives when volunteering?  Travel is one area where the SME experience can be great or terrible. Considerations include:

• Was the SME expected to travel (fly, drive, etc.) at extreme hours (very early or very late) in order to work around the start or stop time of a meeting, instead of allowing the SME to stay an extra day at the meeting location?
• Was convenient travel from the airport to the meeting hotel arranged or did the SME have to figure out how to get to the hotel himself/herself? Or worse yet, was the SME expected to navigate a series of discount hotel busses and other inconvenient mass transportation services?  Or is the SME allowed to rent a car for transportation while he or she will be in attendance at the meeting?
• When travel was arranged, were meals considered? Or was the SME forced to travel hungry as he or she missed meals while flying and changing flights?
• Does the hotel selected by the organization have access to restaurants and other eating/drinking establishments either in the hotel itself or close by? There is nothing more frustrating to an SME to be placed in a hotel with no restaurant in the hotel or no restaurant nearby particularly when the SME does not have a rental car or other transportation.
• How is the SME expected to get from the hotel to the meeting location if it is separate from the hotel? If walking is entailed,  has organization checked to be sure that the SME is capable of making the walk?  And what happens during inclement weather?

Another touchpoint is meal experiences.

• Did the organization check with the SMEs to determine if there are any food or dietary restrictions? One of the most common mistakes organizations make is to order continental breakfasts (sweet rolls and fruit) for breakfast not thinking about individuals who are on low carbohydrate, diabetic or high protein diets.  Organizations should check with SMEs to verify they have selected meals that will meet the SMEs needs.
• What about dinners each night? Are the SMEs left on their own (which some SMEs realistically prefer) or are there group meal experiences offered for dinner?  If SMEs are left on their own for dinner, are options and direction provided as suggestions for dinner?  Our experience has been that the most successful organizations organize group dinners for those who wish to participate, but make it clear that any SME preferring not to participate is welcome to skip the event.

And finally, don’t forget recognition

Finally don’t lose sight of recognition as an important touchpoint.  It’s amazing how often a formal thank you is overlooked when working with SME’s.  Even the simple gesture of a thank you note will make a positive impact on a volunteer that acknowledges the importance of their contribution and shows genuine appreciation.  There are countless ways SMEs can be recognized including certificates, small gifts, and public recognition in reports, publication or websites, and press releases.

The opportunity to improve volunteer SME engagement is not unnecessarily expensive or difficult and with a conscience effort, credentialing organizations will find it a key strategic tool in sustaining a successful credentialing program.

This is part two in a series of two on Subject Matter Experts.

Categorized in: Industry News