Master this essential documentation concept
An individual with specialized knowledge, skills, and experience in a particular area or process within an organization
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are the cornerstone of effective documentation projects, providing the specialized knowledge and insights that transform complex information into accessible, accurate documentation. They serve as the bridge between technical complexity and user understanding.
Your organization's subject matter experts (SMEs) hold invaluable specialized knowledge that's often shared through training sessions, meetings, and presentations. These video recordings capture critical insights, but the format makes it challenging for teams to reference specific information later.
When a subject matter expert conducts a detailed walkthrough or explains complex processes on video, the knowledge remains trapped in a time-consuming format. Team members must scrub through recordings to find relevant sections, and the expertise can't be easily searched, referenced, or integrated into your documentation system.
Converting these video sessions into searchable documentation transforms how your team preserves and accesses subject matter expert knowledge. Instead of scheduling additional meetings or watching hour-long recordings, technical writers and team members can reference transcribed explanations, extract step-by-step procedures, and organize information by topic. This approach is particularly valuable when subject matter experts have limited availability or when onboarding new team members who need to quickly understand specialized domains.
By transforming video content into structured documentation, you create a sustainable knowledge base that extends the reach of your subject matter experts while making their insights more accessible to everyone who needs them.
Development team needs comprehensive API documentation but technical writers lack deep understanding of complex endpoints, authentication methods, and integration patterns.
Partner with senior developers and solution architects who built the API to serve as SMEs, providing technical depth and real-world implementation examples.
1. Identify lead developers and architects familiar with API design decisions 2. Conduct structured interviews focusing on common use cases and integration patterns 3. Have SMEs provide code examples and troubleshooting scenarios 4. Create documentation drafts and schedule review sessions with SMEs 5. Establish ongoing SME availability for updates and clarifications
Accurate, comprehensive API documentation with practical examples, reducing developer support tickets by 40% and improving API adoption rates.
Organization needs to document complex regulatory compliance procedures, but writers lack expertise in industry regulations and internal compliance processes.
Collaborate with compliance officers, legal experts, and process owners who understand both regulatory requirements and internal implementation procedures.
1. Engage compliance team leaders and regulatory affairs specialists 2. Map out compliance workflows through guided sessions 3. Document step-by-step procedures with SME validation at each stage 4. Include regulatory citations and internal policy references 5. Establish regular review cycles to maintain compliance accuracy
Compliant, audit-ready documentation that reduces compliance risks and provides clear guidance for staff, resulting in 95% audit success rate.
Complex software system requires user training materials, but documentation team lacks hands-on experience with advanced features and common user workflows.
Work with power users, trainers, and customer success managers who understand both system capabilities and user learning patterns.
1. Identify experienced users and training staff as SMEs 2. Observe actual user sessions and training workshops 3. Document common user journeys and frequent pain points 4. Create role-based training materials with SME input 5. Test materials with SMEs and actual users before finalization
User-focused training materials that reduce onboarding time by 50% and improve user proficiency scores, leading to higher customer satisfaction.
Support team overwhelmed with repetitive technical issues, but existing documentation lacks comprehensive troubleshooting information and real-world problem-solving approaches.
Partner with senior support engineers and system administrators who have extensive experience resolving complex technical issues.
1. Analyze support ticket patterns to identify frequent issues 2. Interview senior support staff about problem-solving methodologies 3. Document step-by-step troubleshooting workflows with decision trees 4. Include advanced diagnostic techniques and edge case solutions 5. Create feedback loop for continuous improvement based on new issues
Comprehensive troubleshooting documentation that reduces average resolution time by 35% and enables junior staff to handle complex issues independently.
Define specific roles, time commitments, and deliverables for SME participation in documentation projects to ensure productive collaboration and prevent scope creep.
Maximize SME time value by conducting well-organized, focused sessions with clear agendas and specific outcomes to extract knowledge efficiently.
Engage SMEs at key project milestones rather than only at the beginning and end to ensure accuracy and catch issues early in the documentation development process.
Systematically capture and organize SME insights using consistent methods to ensure knowledge is preserved and can be referenced throughout the project lifecycle.
Invest in ongoing relationships with key SMEs to create sustainable documentation processes and ensure continuous access to expertise for updates and new projects.
Join thousands of teams creating outstanding documentation
Start Free Trial