How Well Do You Work with Your SMEs?

Jun

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Categories: Content Experts, Polls/Survey, Technical Communication/Writing

One of the featured articles in our internal technical communication newsletter this month is about the technical writers working on NI TestStand.

When asked how they work with their subject matter experts, or SMEs, this is what they said:

“We love our developers! They often let us know how much they appreciate our work, and they respect us as a valuable part of the team. Our developers are committed to helping us produce high quality documentation and keep us in the loop when software changes affect the documentation.”

What an inspiration and example for all SMEs to follow! Can you say the same thing about your SMEs? Do your SMEs appreciate your work? Do they respect you as a valuable part of the team? Are they committed to helping you produce the highest quality of documentation? Do they keep you in the loop regarding all changes that affect documentation?

SMEs are the most important people technical writers work with on a daily basis. They provide all the information we need to do our job writing documentation. However, not all SMEs are easy to work with. Some SMEs don’t consider documentation an important aspect of software development, thus technical writers are often left out of meetings, emails, and updates. Gathering necessary information for documentation tasks can be like pulling teeth if your SMEs are not cooperative. Asking the wrong questions, also known as “stupid questions” might result in both parties feeling extremely frustrated.

SMEs have the power to make our job easy or difficult. So what is it like for you at your job? Do you work well with your SMEs? I’ve put together a poll to see what’s everyone’s response. I’m curious to know how everyone feels about working with their SMEs.