Interviewing Subject Matter Experts

By Prashant V Menon

During technical writing interviews, we hear strange reasons for why people quit their current jobs after having spent only a couple of months. It surprises me most that among other reasons, the indifferent attitude of subject matter experts stands out. Some writers shy away from sending emails to or setting up teleconferences with SMEs (in the IT industry, they may be programmers, quality assurance engineers, business analysts, or customer service personnel), even though they know that interacting with experts is our lifeblood.

According to A.J. Marlow, good documentation can be provided by an author who has only a general grasp of the topic, yet who is able to assimilate accurate information from appropriate sources where the subject knowledge abounds, and present it in an informative way.

Poor preparation, casual attitude to asking questions, lack of training and subject knowledge, improper recording of data, assuming things, poor concentration during meetings, and the 'hurry to finish' factor among other factors contribute to poor interactions with SMEs.

Some tips for effectively interviewing SMEs are discussed in this essay under planning, preparation, adopting the right methodology, and closing the loop.

Interviewer's watchwords

Know what you want. Learn what you can. Ask everything else.

Know what you want: The first differentiating factor that sets apart a successful interviewer from the others is her ability to know what she does not know. Many of us underplay the need to identify our weak areas or simply overlook their existence until one day they outgrow us. We should make best use of every opportunity we get to expand our horizons. For instance, we should take time to attend knowledge sharing sessions and product training programs in our company.

Learn what you can: Effective learning occurs as a result of trying to fill the gap between what one knows and what is not known. Before talking to the experts, we must do our homework well in order to be able to make sense out of their answers. Also, we must respect their time and use their assistance judiciously. Remember that ours is a symbiotic existence; therefore, instead of plundering the resource, milk them only when necessary and leave behind enough dough for the future.

Ask everything else: Once we know what we don't know - we are ready to fire away pointed questions, via mail or in person.

Different stages of interviewing

Usually, 90% of what we require lies with SMEs. We need them to tell us what they know or point us to the raw data that can be mined, polished, and used for our needs.

Planning for an interview

Planning for an interview starts with setting the objective. What is the objective of the interview - to address specific customer reported issues, to conduct research for buying a new product, or to write instructions? Keeping the purpose in view, the writer should rise to the level of the experts in order to get the best response from them. Prepare a meticulous plan, identify information gaps, ask specific questions, and, if possible, target more than one SME (for instance, a business analyst, programmer, and tester.)

A comprehensive interview plan should include the reporters questions:

• who (the SME, identify the right individual(s))
• when (time, when the SME is not very busy with design changes or product releases)
• where (place, where there are fewer distractions due to phone calls and incessant emails)
• why (purpose, send out the agenda or prepare an outline ahead of the meeting)
• what (ask specific questions to the SME and keep the discussion on track)
• how (face-to-face, teleconference, email, or instant messenger (IM) chat).

This helps us to optimize the time required for the interview and get best results.

Selecting an interview method is also key to planning. This depends on several factors such as comfort level (the expert may be more comfortable talking to you over a cup of coffee than answering emails), urgency of response (email questionnaires are not suitable when immediate response is required), resource and infrastructure availability, and time zone variations (face-to-face conversations is ruled out). Appropriate method should be selected based on their effectiveness and past success.

Preparing for an interview

Ahead of the meeting, the interviewer should have done sufficient research on the subject. For example, to learn about a new software product, you can approach the programmers. But before meeting them, read the background material, and list several questions that you think will produce helpful answers. The more background material you have - it the better results you get, in terms of obtaining information. Ask questions that end users may ask when they first use your product.

Interviewing the SMEs

Email questionnaires are more effective because you have the discussion on record and, therefore, easy to track. Also, the SME has more time to respond. On the other hand, face-to-face conversation is personal, dynamic, and faster. Teleconferences and IM chats lie somewhere in between these two techniques. Often, a combination of the above techniques is found to be the most successful.

Whatever the case, be willing to probe further. Most people know more than what they say at first. Probing helps us to get to this unshared information that will otherwise go untapped. Riordan and Pauley in Technical Report Writing Today suggest four common probing techniques:

• Ask open-ended questions
• Use the echo technique
• Reformulate
• Ask for process description

Some questions need to be answered with more than a 'yes' or 'no' (close ended questions). Ask the experts "why", "how", or "what" questions to elicit details. For example, instead of, "Does the software support employee registration?" (a yes or no question), you should ask, "Of what use is the employee registration feature in our software?"

Use the echo technique to repeat significant terms or sentence fragments. If the interviewee says, "The oscillator should be properly calibrated", you should respond with "properly?" to get an accurate and elaborate answer.

Reformulating what the interviewee just said in you own words allows you to clarify understanding in addition to inviting the interviewee to fill in the gaps.

Another useful probing technique is to ask the experts for a step-by-step account of how they operate a machine or install software. This process description gives us the necessary details from the horse's mouth while telling us which points need more information.

Irrespective of what technique you adopt for probing, remember to record the answers in a form that can be used later.

Closing the loop

After the session, review your notes and clarify them; make sure the text is meaningful and clear. Thank the SMEs for their time and ask them for permission to follow up. If they agree, you can work out how future discussions should be handled - phone, email, or both.

The interview is only closed when your document finally ships to the customer. In the meantime you may review the interview scripts several times and follow up with the SME to break any information knots.

Prashant V Menon is a technical writer with Manhattan Associates, Bangalore.

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