Collaborating with SMEs During the Design Process
One of the aspects of being an instructional designer that I wish had been discussed in the coursework for the ISLT master's program is how to work with SMEs while designing a course or training program. In my current role, I work closely with our learning designers and they have told me that the only aspect of their jobs that can really be frustrating is working with difficult faculty members and/or department heads. Before starting graduate school, I used to work in both customer service and sales and I will be the first to tell you that I am not a big people person. (Is this something that I should be concerned about if I want to ultimately become a professor? I think so. To be fair, I think that being an instructional design professor is a much different experience than working at Walt Disney World.) I am a bit concerned about having to push back against SMEs who are unnecessarily stubborn, who don't understand nor respect what I do, etc. I can do it, but I don't like to do it and I can't do it for a sustained period of time.
I am a member of a group on Facebook called Instructional Designers in Education. Sometimes there are some great resources shared on it, and today was one of those times. Today in the group, someone who works in the online learning department of a prestigious university in New England shared a book that he found tremendously about collaborating with SMEs that he found tremendously helpful and I immediately added it to my extensive "To Be Read" list on Goodreads. It's called "Mindmeld: Micro-Collaboration Between eLearning Designers and Instructor Experts" by Dr. John Aleckson and Penny Ralston-Berg. The person who suggested the book said that it covers all aspects of the topic such as instructional methods, communication channels, culture, and politics.
Since virtual book clubs have become a "thing" since the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine began, would anyone be interested in reading this book along with me and discussing it? I feel like it would be most helpful if I could go through it piece-by-piece alongside my peers/colleagues. Let me know if you would be interested in the comments! Also, do you have any other resources on this topic that you could recommend as well?
Erin - you are right to be concerned about the developer/SME interface. It can be both exciting and troublesome. I am fortunate to work in a field where the curriculum is based on published doctrine and written directives. I frequently get push back from my SME instructors that deliver the instruction, because the curriculum changes do not always agree with what they 'know' or how they did things in the fleet. I'm lucky enough to have solid references, noted in the lesson plan, to rely on. The most important lesson I've learned is to try where ever possible to give the SMEs input on the content. Most times it comes down to giving them alternatives and letting them select the path they prefer.
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