In a previous position in consulting, I worked with “the maestro,” VP of client services and senior producer for the e-learning company for which I worked. An account representative from a partner organization gave him this nickname after watching him orchestrate a SME meeting.
The nickname is a little obvious and hokey, but the maestro has a talent for facilitating SME meetings. He knows when to ask open-ended questions. He knows how to restate and summarize. He knows when to stand up, sit down, take a break, and get back on task. He knows what his team absolutely needs from the SMEs in those one or two days, and he knows how to get it, with grace and energy.
Facilitating SME meetings may be an innate talent not yet identified by standardized testing. You have a day or two, if you’re lucky, to get what you need from a bunch of busy professionals held hostage in a conference room. The room always has temperature issues. PDAs buzz and beep. The food is tolerable at best, and sometimes perilous. (I once re-chipped my front tooth on a toothpick buried in a turkey sandwich during a SME meeting. Pre-lunch, I looked like an attentive professional. Post-lunch, I looked like a defeated cage fighter.) Through all the challenges, you press on – you need that course outline, those resources, those activity scenarios.
Thinking about the maestro’s talent, along with our process at IREM, I’ve made a list of strategies and considerations for facilitating SME meetings.
· Know the background of your SMEs. To the extent possible, learn as much as you can about your SMEs – education, place(s) of employment, personalities, experience with developing and/or facilitating adult education, etc. You’ll know to whom to turn at different points in the meeting and throughout the course development project.
· Give your SMEs a chance to be creative. Give them with the opportunity to look at their job from a fun, new angle. Brainstorm some interesting scenario-based activities. Allow them to map a concept visually. Or integrate a game into the SME meeting.
· Teach back to your SMEs. After they’ve described a process or a concept, “teach” it back to them. You’ll see if you’ve understood, and they’ll have a chance to add steps or ideas they may have missed.
· Strike a balance between talking shop and staying on task. Your SMEs will share professional experiences and methods (“You do it that way? We do it this way…”). Try to turn these conversations into course development work, or just know when to get them back on track.
· Use Post-it notes, note cards, and flip chart paper. Use Post-it notes to organize concepts and create a course outline. Use note cards to allow SMEs to contribute individually and then identify as a group the best idea(s). Hang flip chart paper with outcomes around the room to reference throughout the meeting.
· Create handouts with meeting outcomes. This strategy is especially effective for two-day meetings. Take a moment to summarize and organize outlines, activity ideas, etc. from the first day and then hand them out the morning of the second. SMEs get to see their accomplishments, and you’ll start that second day with energy and focus.
· Stay away from learning theory. Don’t inundate your SMEs with theory, either on how adults learn or how you develop training materials. Sometimes they ask, and that’s a good thing – you can help them contribute. Otherwise just approach the work in your meeting pragmatically.
Anything to add? Have you encountered any maestros in meetings of any type – staff, governance, etc.? What made them effective or successful?
