SMEs If You Please

Mike Donoghue is a member of a multinational information technology corporation where he collaborates on the communications guidelines and customer relationship strategies affecting the interactions with internal and external clients. He has analyzed, defined, designed and overseen processes for various engagements including product usability and customer satisfaction, best practice enterprise standardization, relationship/branding structures, and distribution effectiveness and direction. He has also established corporate library solutions to provide frameworks for sales, marketing, training, and support divisions.

  Communications Management   Knowledge Management   Lessons Learned   Talent Management  

Knowing how to capitalize on the experience, expertise and creativity of your workforce is a bonus you can use to generate new ideas and business within your organization. While these subject matter experts (a.k.a. SMEs) are often the backbone contributors to system requirements, product and service design, and customer-facing presentations and documentation, they are also resources and a form of intellectual property that needs to be exercised. Often they are seasoned staff or other employees who have lucked into a “Eureka!” moment and are the associates who usually don’t think outside the box--because they don’t think there’s a box at all.

An enterprising company that has the capacity to gather information from its employees as well as a process through which it can review the concepts presented by them has great opportunities.

Who Are They?
First off, you need experts who truly are sharp-witted problem solvers that don’t accept “no” as an answer. They need to be perceptive, receptive, experienced and able to communicate on various levels--and in a way that encourages listening and sharing of ideas. While many ideas can be internally processed, an effective SME also needs to be savvy with all sorts of people and professions in order to engage them, discuss options and energize the group.

Think about where a SME …

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