Here are six tips that will help you to be successful in working with subject matter experts (SMEs): 1) Introduce yourself and get to know them on a personal level, as well as professional-level, 2) Identify your role in a project, and your objectives, 3) Gain their respect (many time SMEs are either skeptical of writers, or they don’t understand their roles within the organization, 4) Maximize your time with them–be organized, efficient, and creative in retrieving knowledge, 5) Discover what methods of communication work best for each SME, 6) Persuade and convince them to “own a stake” in the project.
