I am currently working on a development project where I am heavily relying on SMEs.  The course content is very technical (and on a topic I have never developed before).  Existing content is primarily pictures with facilitators spewing facts from their heads.  To no surprise, the SMEs are overly busy with no time to answer a nagging ID!  So I share some ideas when working with SMEs:

• Remember, SMEs have full-time jobs besides what you are requesting from them.  Consolidate your e-mails, conference calls and documents so that they can use their minimal time efficiently.
• Put questions in an SME-friendly document.  I recently pulled all my questions from my design document and put it in an easy-to-read table format.  This document was much more user-friendly to the SME than my instructional-focused design document.
• Create visual maps of your courses.  Sometimes pictures say it better than words and it might be easier for your SME to “see it” rather than read it and try to visualize it in their heads.

What strategies have you used when working with a SME?  Send me a comment!