Be a better subject matter expert

Do you want to reduce the risk inherent in working with subject matter experts and give your projects the very best chance of success?   

Subject matter experts play a key role in the overall project team although they are usually members of the client’s staff rather than employed by the training developer.  Typically, they have no previous experience of the process of training materials development, and they are unsure of what is required of them.  Their expertise is both a benefit and a problem: they are often so expert that they have difficulty in recognising key pieces of knowledge that seem so obvious to them.  They have often forgotten what it feels like to be a novice in the subject area and do not realise how it is that newcomers needs to structure knowledge.  This can also become apparent later on if the subject matter experts are used to check the training material to ensure that that it is accurate and complete.

The consequence of this is that the knowledge gathering phase takes longer and important facts or structure may not be discovered.  The subject matter experts may not fully realise the importance of the sign-off after this phase of the project.  These deficiencies in the body of knowledge are (hopefully) discovered later on and then significant re-work is needed to get the material right.  For the project as a whole, the effect may be that the costs – both to the developer and the client – increase, and the timescale gets longer.

The aim of this short course is to prepare the client’s subject matter experts so that they can make an effective and efficient contribution to the project, getting it right first time. 

Key Business Benefits

The course delivers benefits to the client organisation by:

• ·         Reducing the demands on the subject matter experts and the overall cost of the project by improving the efficiency of the elicitation process.

• ·         Improving the effectiveness of the final training product by improving the quality of information provided by the subject matter experts

It delivers benefits to the company developing the training material by improving the speed and accuracy of the elicitation process and thus:

• ·         Reducing the cost of the project and

• ·         Reducing the risk of re-work at a late stage in the project

Time required: The course lasts half a day (morning or afternoon) and can be run on the client’s premises for minimum disruption to the working day.

Who can benefit: Staff in organisations that are commissioning the development of training materials (including e-learning materials) and who will be involved in the project as subject matter experts.

Number of participants: Up to 10

Fees: £890 (exclusive of VAT and expenses).

Download the course description as a pdf file