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The Successful Development Team

What’s Inside This Chapter

This chapter describes the roles required to build a successful development team, defining:

• successful developer characteristics

• ideal SME traits

• how to find a good SME.

To conclude the chapter, two worksheets will help you evaluate your skills as well as those of a SME.

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The Successful Development Team

Building a strong development team for your technical training course is a necessity. Each role in the team is important and ensures that the perspectives required for a complete project are represented. When the right people are in place, all components of the project are covered.

Roles in Technical Course Development

In the technical course development world, there are two different but equally important sides of the spectrum. On one side is the instructional design, which encompasses course structure, organization, and learning theory. The other side is the technical content within the course. Without either element, the final product would be incomplete. Both sides must work together to produce a successful course (Figure 3-1).

Corresponding to these two sides of the spectrum are two distinct roles required for a course development project: the developer and the subject matter expert (SME). As their names imply, the developer offers expertise on the instructional side of the course, and the SME offers expertise on the technical side. The SME has the final say in what is said during the course, and the developer has the final say in how it is said.

An individual carrying out the instructional role may have a job title such as instructional designer, training specialist, technical writer, or content developer, among a number of other titles. An individual carrying out the technical role might be an engineer, an equipment operator, a technical trainer, a technician, a programmer, a physician, a researcher, or one of an entire host of other professionals. What the individual job titles might be within each role or how many people end up fulfilling each role is not important. What is important is that both the developer and SME roles be filled within the course development team. It is vital that both roles be given respect and that they contribute equally to the outcome. Both roles have distinct and essential responsibilities during the project.

The Developer structures content so that it appeals to several different learning preferences and takes into account numerous methods of instruction.

The SME provides technical content and ensures that terminology is used correctly and that the entire topic is represented accurately.

The Developer structures course objectives in a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) format.

The SME provides assurance that the objectives are relevant to the target audience’s job.

The Developer wants a course organization with a logical flow that is easy to follow based on how learners’ memories work.

The SME wants a course organization with a logical flow that is consistent with the intricacies of the technical topic.

The Developer formats the training material to utilize correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

The SME makes certain that the document reads correctly according to standard industry terminology.

Success in the development of a technical course begins with ensuring that the two critical roles of the development team are present. The next step involves filling those roles effectively. The following two sections describe the characteristics of the successful developer and the ideal SME.

Successful Developer Characteristics

Successful developers share a few common characteristics, such as good communication skills, adaptability, and the desire to understand a complicated topic. These and other important traits will be explained in this section. As you read, keep in mind that understanding and striving for each of these qualities can help you become more effective as a developer.

Utilizes Good People Skills

An effective developer must communicate well so everyone on the team will understand what is required, how the project is proceeding, and any issues that need to be addressed. Your good communication skills should be adaptable to all sorts of people. SMEs come with different nationalities, genders, personalities, and egos. Remember that there are times in technical training that, to do your job, you are almost solely dependent on your SME. If you alienate your SMEs with a rude comment, they are less likely to work well with you, thus thwarting both your efforts. As someone with a great stake in the relationship, you should be adept at reading your SME and anticipating how he or she prefers to work. If you can tap into your SME’s working style and communication preferences, you will have a better chance of drawing out the needed technical information and completing the development project.

Doesn’t Give Up Easily

It is easier said than done, but an effective developer does not give up on a project at the first sign of adversity. Technical topics can be quite difficult. Try to avoid becoming discouraged if you don’t fully understand a topic after an hour, two weeks, or three months. It takes people years to become experts on a subject; keeping this in mind and persevering despite frustration gives you a better chance of success.

Asks Questions

Being fearless when it comes to asking questions is perhaps the most obvious quality an effective developer needs. Clearly, as a nonexpert on a complicated topic, you are going to have questions and you are going to have a lot of them. You may have to endure strange looks from your SME when you ask yet another question, but you need to have thick skin. You must be able to continue asking questions until you find the answer you need.

Is a Good Listener

Now that you understand the power of opening your mouth to ask questions, don’t underestimate the simple power of closing your mouth to listen! Sometimes your SME will say things you won’t find documented in any other source, and for many technical topics, your SME can hold all the answers you need to finish a class. Successful developers understand this and pay close attention when a SME starts talking shop.

Applies Knowledge of Instructional Design

An effective developer has a solid work foundation. You should understand the basic tenets of the instructional design process and use these major steps as you develop your courses. This is often learned over several years of work in the industry; however, classes (and books!) may make your knowledge base much broader.

Draws Upon a Sense of Humor

Don’t be afraid to see the lighter side of all this technical stuff. SMEs often spout uproariously funny technical jargon, oblivious to how they sound to the untrained ear. Your audience will, in all likelihood, find the same jargon as funny as you do upon hearing it the first time. You can use that in your training development to great success. In addition, you should also be able to laugh at yourself. As novices with the technical material, we will from time to time make mistakes and confuse a “shale dome” with a “salt dome,” an “RCD” with an “RDC,” or an “overused overshot guide” with an “oversized overshot guide.” SMEs sometimes chortle at our humorously incorrect interpretations of technical data. As a developer, you need to keep your perspective. If you can see the humor in a situation and laugh at yourself, you are likely to go further.

Desires to Understand a Complicated Topic

Mighty are the developers who desire to truly understand a complicated technical topic. These people are not OK with a one-word answer given by a SME. These people ask “why” a hundred times, not because they are tedious but because they are truly interested in bettering their understanding of the topic. When you are really trying to learn something, you will ask the natural questions that a new learner will ask. These questions will be useful to the course development process because, as a learner, you can help the SME realize that certain aspects of the topic might be important to someone without the SME’s level of expertise. The SME will see how you are internalizing the topic, which will highlight specific areas on which the course should focus.

Accepts Criticism

There is nothing truer than the adage “Everyone makes mistakes.” You should be able to take any criticism you receive in stride and use it to improve yourself. As you go through the development and editing process, your content may often be completely crossed out and marked up by your SME. Don’t become so attached to what you have created that you are not able to separate yourself from it. You should be highly invested in the material as you craft it, but once that material goes for review, you need to be able to look at the edits from an outside perspective, as if you were not the person who spent the last 17 sleepless nights trying to crank out the project. Don’t be easily offended and your development life will be easier.

Is Adaptable

You may find that something that worked particularly well for one project and SME does not work at all for your next project. Such is the nature of technical topics and working with different SMEs. You certainly should not forget about the things that have made you successful previously, but you must be adaptable. You may have to tweak the details of your work process to fit various projects.

Requires a Quality Product

I once worked with a developer whose sole goal was to get it done. It did not matter what the work product looked like, only that it was finished. As such, whether information was actually correct was irrelevant; this developer just wanted enough of some kind of information to fill up a particular section. This checkbox approach to development is dangerous. Information included in the course may not be relevant and—even worse—could be completely wrong. Not only might you spend double the effort combing through the final product to find mistakes, but you might actually miss one or two mistakes and critical, safety-related items could be incorrect. If you are committed to making sure your work is high quality from the beginning, everyone wins in the end.

Is Organized

Organization is an essential aspect of a successful technical developer. You should be able to keep track of your working files and your correspondence with your SME. There is little that irritates SMEs more than to have to resubmit material or changes they already submitted once before, and there is little that is more frustrating for you than to be unable to locate a document that you knew was once in your possession. So do yourself a favor and have some sort of organizational system in place for your work process. What system you choose does not matter as much as just having something that works!

Uses Problem-Solving Skills

As a developer, you should be able to pull out your problem-solving skills when an unexpected setback occurs. With technical training development, you must assume that setbacks are the norm. The potential for stumbling blocks is infinite, what with changes in product offerings, new best practices, equipment availability, standard practices, government regulations, and so on. You should be resourceful enough to be able to identify additional resources or solutions and capable enough to adapt to midcourse changes that need correction.

Is Able to Accept Unknowns

At times, the information a SME gives you will be so obscurely technical and so profoundly complicated that it would take you a decade to fully understand it. As such, sometimes you just need to take the information you are given and go with it, even if you don’t completely understand it. Of course, to still have a quality product, you should verify that at least the SME understands what you have done and agrees with your documentation of a particular answer, but after you have verified this—in the interest of your own sanity—you need to move on. You should strive for a quality product, but occasionally this means you will not understand every detail of the material and will just have to (hold your breath) trust your SME. Your SME, after all, has the final say on the technical content.

Is Dependable

Be where you say you will be and do what you say you will do. Nothing will kill your credibility more quickly than if you forget about a meeting with your SME or neglect to email or provide information you said you would. To be successful, be realistic about what you can do and then stick to that and only that.

Draws Upon Knowledge of Adult Learning

Much of course development involves keeping in mind adult learners. As your role in the development team is to take into account adult learning principles and apply them to the technical material, it stands to reason you should be up-to-date on learning research.

Possesses Practical Experience in the Subject Area

Nothing can substitute for work experience in the industry in which you are creating training. For example, if you are writing about oil well drilling and you have actually worked as an oil driller for seven years, that experience will be enormously valuable when creating a technical course. If you don’t already have the technical background, be open to other possibilities of acquiring information. You will be surprised at how much a SME will enjoy taking you out to the shop to show you how a tool is assembled or out to a job where you can see a service being performed. All of these practical experiences give you an edge when it comes time to start writing and developing. If you can understand even a piece of the topic, this can help you communicate better with your SME on the course.

In Summary: You Should Be Able to Communicate!

An extremely important tool a successful training developer should have is a strong communication ability. You need to be able to speak, write, and otherwise present thoughts and concepts in a clear and concise format. The process of translating obscure technical topics into an understandable format is, simply, your job.

As discussed, with technical training development, getting your job done means you are often dependent on your SME’s expertise. Thus, the ability to communicate effectively and work alongside all types of people, personalities, and egos is extremely important.

Traits of the Ideal Subject Matter Expert

Filling the SME role effectively for a technical training project is extremely important. Here are the ideal traits of a SME.

Has Knowledge of the Subject

As the name implies, the SME should be an expert in the subject matter of the course. If the SME does not really know the content, you may have vague or incorrect material in the course. A SME with good knowledge of the subject will be able to provide technical information that is correct and relevant.

Utilizes Good Communication Skills

A major predictor of the success of a project is how well the SME communicates. Because much of a SME’s workflow involves explaining complicated content to a developer who might not understand a lot about the subject, the SME who can explain things simply and concisely not only makes life much easier but also helps to ensure the success of the project.

Is Available

A SME should have enough time to devote to the project. Ideally, the SME should have a full-time focus (even if only temporarily) on the course development. This can end up being a challenge; good SMEs usually have a lot of responsibilities because, simply, they are good at what they do. It does not matter how qualified your SME is or how well they communicate; if your SME does not have time in their schedule to help you, the project will not go well. SMEs with appropriate availability for your project will answer your emails and do things on time, both very important requirements for the success of the project.

Has Experience Designing a Course

Just as it is helpful for a developer to have practical experience with a technical subject, it is also helpful for a SME to have practical experience designing a course. This can save you time. You won’t have to spend as much time explaining each step in the course design process if you are working with a SME who has put together a course before. In addition, if the SME has been through the course design process once before, they may be more willing to give you information. The SME might have a better idea of why you ask all those annoying questions and will probably trust that all the inconvenience is worth the good courseware produced in the process.

Possesses Knowledge of Adult Learning

People are not likely to invest in things they don’t understand. If a SME does not understand adult learning, there is the possibility that the SME will not find much worth in the instructional elements you include in the course. An ideal SME understands that a quality training program must follow accepted adult learning tactics. That is, the content being developed must be focused not on the instructor but more on the learners. If your SME understands that the learners are the target of the program, they will be more likely to devise helpful activities and support the eventual structure of the interactive course.

Admits When They “Just Don’t Know”

Although a SME is expected to be an expert on the subject, there will be times when they do not know the answer to a technical question. An ideal SME will be straightforward and admit this, and then either ask for more time to find the answer or give you the contact details of someone who may be better able to find it.

Is Connected

An effective SME should have numerous contacts and resources to share. The other technical people the SME has access to, along with the electronic or hard-copy resources the SME has available, allow you to avoid wasting time when gathering and developing material.

Is Neither Too General Nor Too Detailed

If a SME provides information that is too general, it can be hard to make the class challenging. In addition, broad statements can leave room for too much interpretation and, thus, could lead to errors as materials are developed. Information that is too general can also cause misunderstandings as the learners try to make sense of the material.

But having too many details can be a problem as well. Information overload can overwhelm the learners. Plus, being too detailed becomes a problem when it paralyzes a perfectionist SME who is unable to continue with the project unless everything is just so. Your SME should provide just the right amount of detail necessary to meet the course objectives.

Is Decisive

The SME is in charge of the technical information included in the course and must be able to make concrete decisions that solve issues regarding message and information. Indecisiveness will always prolong the project and frustrate its creators. A decisive SME can focus your message and streamline the course.

Cares

A disillusioned SME who doesn’t care for the company or the target audience probably won’t be helpful on the course development project. On the flip side, a SME who truly cares about the organization and, more importantly, the target audience, is probably going to translate much of that goodwill into an exceptional work product for your training course.

In summary, a good SME is needed as both a guide and a resource throughout the project. The SME should have extensive experience with the topic and, when asked, should intimately understand what the areas of focus must be for the target audience.

Finding a Good SME

Now, the question you may be asking yourself is, How do I find this person? It is usually not hard to find a good SME if you focus on a few specific things. When considering a possible candidate, follow these steps:

• Ask a few questions about the technical topic and judge the quality of the potential SME’s response in terms of understandability, length, and voice tone (it’s not a good sign if the potential SME is exasperated at the onset).

• Send an introductory exploratory email to potential SMEs and note the length of time it takes you to receive an answer. If a SME doesn’t respond to your initial email for weeks, assume this will be the case for every question you ask throughout the project.

• Ask around. If you are familiar with other individuals in the organization, try to ask them about their experiences working with a particular person. You may hear that “this SME is a nightmare,” or that “this SME is the best person ever.”

• Determine whether your SME will be directly affected by the business impact your course will have. If your SME is also a stakeholder in the outcome of the project, you will probably have more luck.

What We’ve Learned

A course development project involves two different but equally important roles. On one side is the developer, who is responsible for course structure, organization, and learning theory. On the other side is the SME, who is responsible for the technical content within the course structure.

For a project to be completed efficiently and effectively, the SME and the developer must each possess a set of ideal characteristics related to their roles. Both roles are indispensable to course development. Without either one, the finished product will be insufficient.

Getting It Done

Becoming aware of your development team’s strengths and weaknesses is your first step toward success. Worksheets 3-1 and 3-2 are designed to get you and your SME thinking about how potential problem areas might be avoided. You can complete these inventories yourself, or you can have a qualified or trusted person complete them for you and your SME. These evaluations will also provide an important first step in communication and will help your SME understand what is expected during the project.

Worksheet 3-1. Evaluate Your Skills

Complete the following assessment tool. Rate yourself (or ask a qualified or trusted person to rank you) from one to five, with one the weakest and five the strongest, on each of the following characteristics. Then describe how you plan to improve or maintain each rating.

Worksheet 3-2. Evaluate the Skills of the SME

Explain the following characteristics to your SME. Ask them to fill out the chart below about themselves, using the same rating system of one to five. You can also have someone qualified or trusted to complete the evaluation on your SME.

After both of you have finished your evaluations, share your results with each other.