5 Questions to Ask Your Technical SMEs
The Tool: Questions to Ask Your Technical SMEs When Supporting Instructor-Led Training
The Purpose:
Instructor-led training (ILT) is time-intensive and expensive for an organization to deploy. As an instructional designer, you may be asked to support a trainer leading a technical ILT, but have no say over how the content is ultimately delivered.
So how can you help a trainer, who likely has a lot of technical experience but no formal training experience, succeed? How can you add value beyond simply creating a visually appealing PowerPoint?
Use Case
As you develop your partnership with your technical subject matter expert (SME), here are some key questions you can ask to support the design of technical ILT:
What prior knowledge are you assuming your learners have? What information supports that assumption?
Are there any industry regulations or standards that should be followed? What are the consequences of learners not adhering to these regulations?
Where in the training are there opportunities for further discussions with the learners?
Where are there opportunities for the learners to get hands-on practice? How can we most closely replicate their on-the-job experiences?
What support (e.g., professional groups, job aids, mentors) will learners have after this training concludes? How do we want learners to engage with that support?
Bonus Question: How did you learn this technical skill? What do you wish your trainer/mentor would have told you?
This question often helps a technical trainer reflect on the type of mentor they aspire to be, which is the first step in growing their potential as both a trainer and a recognized industry expert.
Pros
Using these questions early in the design process will help you develop a deeper understanding of the trainer, the content, and the learners who will be in the room. This understanding allows you to enhance the learner experience and suggest instructional strategies that the trainer may not have considered.
Cons
Not all trainers will immediately identify opportunities for hands-on practice or discussion. If this is the case, reviewing the content first will enable you to pinpoint these opportunities and draft a prototype to share with the trainer.
Takeaways
By building relationships with your technical experts, you can approach technical ILT development as a trusted partner and design expert.
