Conducting Successful SME Interviews

Interviewing subject matter experts (SMEs) is one of the

most common and useful methods for obtaining the Define your objectives.
information needed to create quality documents.
Successful SME interviews require careful research and Define the purpose of the interview. Are you
preparation in advance. During the interview, good interviewing to identify problem areas within a process?
listening skills, critical analysis, and the ability to Or are you documenting the steps a user performs to
maintain control of the range and depth of the interview complete a task? Once established, the purpose will help
with appropriate tact are crucial to successful outcomes. set the scope for your interview.
After the interview, give prompt attention to notes and
any required follow-through. When working with hostile You should also try to establish the expected or needed
SMEs or those with poor communication skills, level of detail for the final product. Doing so on the
emphasize the strengths of the relationship and develop front-end will ensure that you ask the right questions and
strategies to work around any weaknesses. at the right level of detail. (For example, a policy-level
document requires more general information than a work
instruction, which requires more explicit step-by-step
detail.)
INTRODUCTION
Research the subject matter.
Perhaps the most universal and basic method for a
technical communicator to gather information is a face- Review any available background material before the
to-face interview with a subject matter expert (SME). interview. Try to get copies of any documentation
SMEs may be engineers, developers, programmers, related to the task, department, company, product, or
operators, clerks, or customer support personnel. They industry. Flow charts, product data sheets, and even
are the people who have experience with and knowledge training materials can all be valuable sources of
of a particular system, application, product, process, or information. The more background information you have
task that you need to learn about. going into the interview, the better the questions you will
be able to ask.
There is a wide variety of factors that can affect SME
interviews. In most cases, the SME has a job to do You should also compile a list of questions or an outline
beyond taking time out of his or her busy day to talk of topics you want to discuss during the interview. This
with you. It is therefore critical to get the right will keep you on track during the interview. (It also helps
information and optimize your interview time. (This is ensure that you do not forget any important items.)
particularly crucial if you work on smaller projects or if Group your questions by subject. This enables you to
you are an off-site consultant; in these cases your cover a topic in its entirety and enhances the perception
contact with your SME may be restricted even further.) that you are prepared.

This article explains some of the interview techniques Assemble your interview “toolkit.”
that I have used over the years as a technical writer and
communicator. It includes steps you can take before, I use common tools to stay organized during the
during, and after the interview to maximize its interview, such as paper clips, binder clips, folders,
effectiveness, as well as some tips for handling highlighters, Post-it Notes, and pens with different
problematic SME interviews and relationships. The colors of ink. These tools will help you keep your
majority of these techniques will apply whether you are interview notes and attachments organized, so make sure
a freelancer, a consultant, or a captive writer. you have them handy and ready to use.

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW Be on time for the interview.

Even before the interviewing begins, there are things that Show respect for the SME’s busy schedule by not
you can do to build a good foundation for a productive making him or her wait on you to arrive at the interview.
interview experience. This is important whether the SME works for your
company or for a client company. Your arrival at the
interview will be the SME’s first impression of you (and It is also important to control the environment of the
your company). Make sure that impression conveys your interview as much as possible. If the area in which you
professionalism. If you are traveling to the interview, be are interviewing is distracting (for example, if the SME
sure to get good directions and leave yourself plenty of is receiving numerous phone calls or other employees
time in case you encounter unexpected traffic. are constantly interrupting the interview), ask if there is
another location, such as an empty office or conference
DURING THE INTERVIEW room, where you can continue the interview. In some
cases, such as when the interviewee needs to use their
computer to demonstrate a task, you may be tied to a
Often, the face-to-face interview affords you the best
certain location. However, you can try other tactics like
opportunity to get content information for your
asking if the interviewee can put their phone calls
documentation project. (In some cases, the interview
directly into voicemail. Ultimately, you may be forced to
may be the only opportunity you will have.) It is
make the best of a bad situation.
important to manage the interview flow so that you will
have the time to cover the questions you need to get
answered. Paraphrase information and repeat it
back to the SME.
Use active listening skills.
This is particularly helpful when covering complex
This technique is not as easy as it sounds. Hearing is not material. Paraphrasing reinforces your understanding of
the same as listening. Hearing is the perception of sound, the information. If you cannot repeat the information in
whereas listening is attention to what is being said. your own words, you probably do not understand it well
Active listening requires that you give the speaker your enough to write about it. This is a definite sign that you
complete and undivided attention. need to ask more questions about the subject matter.

When you listen actively, you are focused on listening, Use critical thinking skills to identify
not talking. Do not get distracted by mentally planning gaps in the information.
your next question so that miss the SME’s response to
your current question. The SME may not be able to explain the information in a
logical sequence, but if you mentally (or verbally)
Ask open-ended questions. rearrange the information into a chronological or
sequential order, you are more likely to spot any gaps in
These are questions that require more detailed answers the process flow. This is critical for task- or process-
than a “yes” or “no” response. Open-ended questions related documentation. This technique works well when
start with words such as “how,” “why,” or “what.” An combined with the paraphrasing technique discussed
example of a closed-ended question would be, “Do you above.
implement safety checks in the manufacturing process?”
The obvious answers to this question would be “yes” or Be accurate.
“no.” An alternative open-ended question that would
prompt the SME for more detail would be, “How do you Make sure you get the correct spelling of names, job
implement safety checks in the manufacturing process?” titles, systems, departments, etc. Inaccuracies in the
product reflect badly on the writer even though the error
(Politely) control the interview. may have resulted from incorrect information provided
by the SME. This more than anything will add to or
Controlling the flow of the interview is always detract from your reputation as a technical writer.
important, but especially so when you have tight time
constraints. If the SME gets off-track, bring him or her Organize your materials.
back to the topic by asking pointed, specific questions.
Be careful not to antagonize the SME in the process. Use paper clips, binder clips, folders, Post-it Notes,
You may need to continue to work with the person on highlighters, pens with different colors of ink, and other
other projects and bad feelings could taint future tools as appropriate help you keep your interview notes
interaction. Also, remember that you can offend not only and attachments organized.
with words, but also with your tone of voice and
impatient gestures.
I find it helpful to mark areas of my notes where I need than by phone, or you may collectively decide to embed
to go back and follow up or clarify information with the the questions in the appropriate location of the draft
SME later in the interview. An example of this is the document, assuming that the SME will get a chance to
point at which a procedure branches. You will probably review the draft.
need to document both branches of the procedure, but it
is much easier to follow one path at a time. AFTER THE INTERVIEW
I also use highlighters or sticky notes to mark references
The following techniques mostly deal with follow-
in my notes to forms and exhibits I need to collect after
through, and it goes without saying that follow-through
the interview. An alternate method of doing this is to
is critical in technical writing.
keep a running list of the items you need to get. Either
method works, just be sure you try to get those items
before you leave the interview, while you have the Review your notes while the interview is
SME’s attention and while the material is fresh. fresh.

Do not make any promises to the SME Immediately after the interview, fill in any gaps in your
interview notes and decipher any cryptic notations. If
that you are not authorized to make. you need to organize your materials better, now is the
time to match pages of notes with the relevant screen
Do not promise a draft or a finished product to the SME
prints or exhibits.
by a specific date unless you have consulted with the
project or product manager and the rest of the
development team. This will create problems by setting Schedule follow-up as necessary.
up unrealistic expectations.
If there are a significant number of follow-up questions
If you are a consultant, do not promise services to the or if the questions are complex, you may want to try to
SME that may go beyond the scope of the contract or schedule a follow-up phone interview with the SME.
budget. If appropriate, discuss any questionable requests
with your project manager. Any services that fall outside Now that the interview is successfully behind you and
the scope of the project (and budget) may require a new you have all the information you need, you can begin
contract or additional fee negotiation. drafting your document. With the right information and
good organization of that information, writing the draft
should be trouble-free.
CLOSING THE INTERVIEW
At the end of the interview, there are still a few things PROBLEM INTERVIEWS
you can do to reinforce success. Ideally, at this point you
and the SME have established a good working Optimally, the writer/SME alliance will be a cooperative,
relationship and you feel pretty good about the symbiotic relationship. However, this is not always the
information you got during the interview. case. In the real world, any number of factors—
personality clashes, lack of commitment to a project, or
even inadequate communication skills—can inhibit the
Thank the SME for their time. effectiveness of the writer/SME relationship. An
uncooperative or inarticulate SME can make your job as
Commonly, SMEs are assigned by their bosses to assist
a writer unnecessarily difficult. Moreover, the quality
writers with projects, even though the SME may not
and skill level of SMEs vary greatly and often the
benefit directly from the end product. Expressing your
technical writer has little control over which SME is
appreciation can help turn a reluctant SME into a willing
assigned to act as a resource on his or her project (1).
participant in future collaborations.
However, even with a less-than-stellar SME there are
Ask for permission to follow up. some things you can do to improve the odds of success.
If you work on an ongoing basis with an SME who has
By asking permission to follow up, you can determine unsatisfactory communication skills, you may be able to
whether the SME is open to additional contact. If the establish an adequate working relationship by identifying
SME grants your request for follow-up questions, your SME’s weak points and learning to work around
discuss how future contact should be handled. The SME them. For example, if an SME is a conceptual thinker
may prefer to handle your questions by e-mail rather and not very detail-oriented, you could focus on drawing
out the specifics of the conceptual issues discussed
during the interview. You could also ask to see examples
that support those discussion points.

CONCLUSION
A successful SME interview is achievable through
preparation and forethought, organization, and proper
management of the interview process. Not all of the
techniques presented in this article will apply to every
interview situation; however, most will apply to the
average interview. Hopefully, some of these techniques
will work for you!