Clinging to Ownership: Rescuing Content from SMEs

Intercom October 2014

By: Maria Willacy
While subject matter experts (SMEs) are great assets to a company, they can sometimes be one of the
biggest hindrances to you, the technical communicator. Technical communicators must find ways to
work with SMEs to ensure that goals are reached. Often SMEs do not value your role and see you as
hurting their content. It is important to convince the SME that you are there to help them and that you
value their efforts. While it may take some convincing and numerous questions, it is your job to make
sure the documents are beneficial to the bottom line.