Collaborating with Subject Matter Experts: How to Reach Your Destination Without a Roadmap

By Lindsey Neely |STC Senior Member

How can the writer-editor build rapport with subject matter experts in an environment where neither are given clearly defined roles regarding how they are to reach a finished product? Believe it or not, this is a common occurrence in the federal government sector, which is my niche. Most of my graduate program’s course readings seem to assume writer-editors have clearly defined roles and processes at their workplaces. This is not always the case, and many times, the writer-editor is not empowered by their superiors to formalize publication processes and procedures, as they are more concerned with what needs to be documented as opposed to how they reach the finished product. This invisible chaos can easily lead to increased anxiety and writer’s block for writer-editors and subject matter experts alike. This paper outlines proven strategies to effectively navigate the writing process and build positive rapport with subject matter experts, both of which will help you produce accurate material on schedule.

The Worst That Could Happen

Let’s say things aren’t going well with your subject matter expert—for whatever reason. You do the best you can and are mostly satisfied with the end product. The research you did on your own didn’t quite hit the mark your supervisor was hoping for because it wasn’t tailored to your company’s requirements and processes. The result is an inaccurate document and/or a missed deadline. Now you are costing your company additional time and resources, when you really should have closed this project out and been focused on a new one. Of course, this is assuming your supervisor caught the content errors.

What if—

because you didn’t have great input from your subject matter expert, crucial information was missing or erroneous?
this document involved instructions regarding heavy equipment or hazardous materials?
error or ambiguity in the document you worked on contributed to someone’s death?

That is a lot to worry about—morally, ethically, and financially. Now that I have stopped short of threatening you with jail time, let’s explore how to avoid these worst-case scenarios.

Should I Call You or Wait for You to Call Me?

What does your boss expect of you? This is a great place to start, but don’t expect them to be specific. You may hear that they want a standard operating procedure on how employees check equipment out of your office. If you’re lucky, you will also get a due date and the name of a subject matter expert you can use as a resource. Time to start jotting your thoughts down, beginning with all the questions you can think of. The next logical question is: How do I reach out to this person and get the information I need?

When it comes to writing, it’s always better to take the initiative and reach out to another party rather than to wait for them to contact you; you could wait weeks or months as your subject matter expert hopes you forget about them and decide to write the document yourself. If meeting with your subject matter expert in person is not feasible, you will need to weigh the pros and cons of phone calls, email, and virtual meetings. If you anticipate the possibility of your tone being misconstrued, I suggest phone calls or virtual meetings. Of course, if you want a paper trail, this may not be the best option.

If you both work at the same site, it would behoove you to meet with your subject matter expert face-to-face. This is my forte and where I rack up the most rapport-building points. Psychology experts estimate that a large percentage (numbers vary and depend on which study you read) of our communication is non-verbal, and this is why it’s so easy to misconstrue a person’s tone over email and—occasionally—the phone. The best choice is to stop by the subject matter expert’s office, introduce yourself, and tell them you are looking forward to working with them to create the document. If they have time to speak with you for a few minutes, this is a great opportunity to ask such questions as:

“How long have you been with (the company/agency)?”
“Have you worked on developing this type of documentation before?”
“Do you like to write?”
“Have you thought about how you’d like to collaborate so we can have a finished product by (state the specific or general due date you were given)?”
“It was good talking to you. I’ll send you an email so we can set up a time to talk in more detail. What days and times usually work best for you?”

At this point, your subject matter expert may start to look annoyed. Aren’t you glad you decided to meet face-to-face? This is going to help you gauge if you need to wrap up your introductory meeting or if you can dig deeper, and picking up on cues and learning how to craft these conversations will get easier the more you do it, as will your comfort level with this type of interaction.

As your conversations with the subject matter expert progress, you will invariably come to a fork in the road: Who’s going to write this thing?

Who’s Really the Writer Here?

Who actually writes the document—the subject matter expert or the writer-editor, who often has minimal knowledge of the topic? Be forewarned that you will likely hear, “You were hired to be the writer… Your title is ‘Technical Writer’… Why do you want me to write this when you are the writer?” You can avoid an argument by steering the conversation toward discussing some of the tasks involved in writing, emphasizing you need the subject matter expert’s input to create the required document. As a writer-editor who has enjoyed the freedom to tailor my approach to accommodate different types of collaborators, I present the following as the go-to strategies I’ve developed over the past decade.

Subject Matter Expert Writes It (Mostly) All

This is the subject matter expert who is confident writing and is willing to write a first draft with the understanding that you will edit it and have follow-up questions. In this situation, it is helpful to provide your subject matter expert with a template for them to work in, unless they decline. In this case, they will likely email you a Word document that you may be stuck pulling information out of and plugging into your template, only to find chunks of information are missing. This is a fantastic position to be in because now you have a starting point to ask questions and use your skills as a writer-editor, which also shows your added value to the company.

This type of collaboration usually requires minimal topic research from you.

Subject Matter Expert is Motivated, Lacks Confidence

Your subject matter expert seemed motivated until you try to divvy up tasks between the two of you, at which point they seem to shut down. This is where reading body language is indispensable and your line of questioning and tailoring your approach will depend largely on how they react, both verbally and non-verbally, to what you say. Be cautious not to come across as condescending, so be aware of your tone and body language as well.

I have found several ways to pull information out of these folks. I let them know that I have a template that takes some of the guesswork out of what we need to write. We discuss what I know about the topic and I ask if they have any good resources, and they almost always talk about their job duties. They start to feel more comfortable, and you can decide if you should proceed with an informal interview, schedule a formal interview, ask them to jot down some key points or to email you their thoughts on the topic. The keys here are to make them feel comfortable with you and also to follow up with them as deadlines approach. Often, these subject matter experts don’t think they write well and are worried they are going to be judged on their perceived shortcoming.

This type of collaboration will require research from you to help spark their ideas and writing. Having a broad overview of the topic you are writing about will help guide your interview skills and keep you on task.

Subject Matter Expert Is Just Here to Say Yes or No

Some subject matter experts just don’t want to write and don’t want to give you the information you need. This is a tough situation for any writer-editor to be in, but one that will help you grow as a writer, interviewer, and researcher.

In this situation, you will do most of the work yourself, including more research than with the other types of collaboration. It is advisable to get input from other coworkers, too, who can serve as information resources, can guide you to other resources, and may be able to give you tips on how to obtain the information you need from your assigned subject matter expert.

You may need to talk to their supervisor. While this may help improve production on the current project, it may backfire in the long run if you have to work with this individual again. The key here is to build strong working relationships with your subject matter experts, and that can take weeks, months, or even years. Sometimes it never happens; you want to minimize the chances that it will be your fault. Every situation is different, and the judgment call is yours.

Conclusion

Excellent working relationships and documentation cannot eliminate risk of death, injury, damage to property, or prevent mistakes, but they can greatly reduce the likelihood of occurrence. A healthy working relationship includes—but is not limited to—feeling comfortable asking questions, admitting when you don’t know the answer, and brainstorming and working collaboratively to find answers. Favorable, trusting working relationships yield better, more accurate documents and aid in maximizing time all parties spend on the project. The collaboration strategies described in this article compose the roadmap that will get you to your destination on time, on budget, and with as few wrong turns as possible.