What’s the point of this meeting?
The Tool: Approach your SME meeting with a plan!
The use case:
I see a lot of posts on Instructional Design Reddit (P.S. if you’re new to the field, this is a great place to learn more about the industry) with some version of “I have my first SME/Stakeholder meeting and I don’t know how to start!”
Before you set up the meeting, ask yourself -
What do you hope to get out of this meeting?
Is it to clarify the objectives?
Uncover performance gaps?
Ensure your training is aligned with the organizational goals?
Prioritize the content they have given you?
Clarify the project plan?
Each goal requires a different set of questions, but here are some to get you started. Review these questions before you meet with your SMEs or Stakeholders.
Questions that establish objectives
What is the purpose of the proposed training?
(e.g. Is it for them to learn a new system, process, or role? Is it to introduce a change in the organizational structure? Is it to establish a skill set?)
Why do learners need this training? What would be the consequences if they do not perform as expected?
If I was doing [role/activity/task], what is the most important thing I need to know?
If I was doing [role/activity/task], who could I ask for help? (this helps establish if there are other SMEs you should be talking to)
Questions that uncover performance gaps
What are people currently doing? What do we want them to do?
What is the biggest challenge of this role? How do high performers overcome that challenge?
What does a high-performing [role name] do? What do they delegate to others?
Ask the The Five Whys (pairs well with a fishbone diagram)
Questions that help with alignment
Are there any upcoming organizational initiatives I should know about that may impact this training?
In your mind how does [learning objectives] align with [overall performance goal]?
Explain the connection as if I were a [example learner].
Questions that help prioritize content (these are great when you have a storyboard ready)
At the end of this [training, session, activity], what do you want participants to say they learned?
I have presented [number] key topic areas for this [session/module]. Which one would you say is the most important?
Project Planning Questions (these are useful if you also wear a ‘project planner’ hat in your organization)
What other teams are supporting this project? What is their availability? (days, number of hours)
Who needs to sign off on the finished product?
What is your ideal launch date?
What communications need to go out prior to launch?
Instructional Designers - What is your favorite question to ask SMEs or Stakeholders?
