August/September 2003

Volume 44, Number 1

If you live by the brownie, you die by the brownie

by Kristy Lantz Astry

"Technical writers live in a state of anxiety." This lead sentence in the article "Avoiding Developer's Anguish" (Paul S. McKelvey, Intercom, April 2003) grabbed my attention, so I read on. McKelvey gives tips on dealing with situations where SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) may not be able to provide vital technical information by the writer's deadline. Some writers, McKelvey claims, try to gain cooperation from SMEs by bringing food to their sessions, or even giving gifts to SMEs at the end of projects. "Although these tactics may work some of the time," writes McKelvey, "the writer remains a mendicant at the SME's cube." I shuddered, and then had to look up the meaning of the word "mendicant."

The idea of bribing SMEs with food or gifts strikes me as dangerous and unprofessional. I have never exchanged food for information, and I never will. What happens when the bribe is no longer offered? How willing then are SMEs to divulge information "for free" (see this article's title)? Through trial and error, I've found what I consider more effective methods of getting information from busy SMEs. Some truths I've learned along the way:

SMEs don't have my best interests at heart. It's not personal. They have deadlines, too. So when I request information-gathering meetings, I tell them what I need to know and how long I need to meet with them (given in terms of half-hour units seems to work best). I've found that setting limits on the amount of time they must spend with Documentation often results in their immediate buy-in.

It's all in the approach. Often casual, face-to-face meeting requests can be more effective than via email or phone. But if I were to ask, "Do you have time to meet with me on Project X?"—the answer too often is "No." What works better for me is saying, "Joe, I've got a couple of questions about Component Y. Shouldn't take more than a half hour. When's a good time for you to go over it?" Because Joe can't answer "No," he has implicitly agreed to the interview, demo, etc., and now we're just negotiating the meeting time.

If you give them an "out," they'll take it. If our meeting gets cancelled because some urgent issue has arisen, I don't tell SMEs to call me when they "have time." They won't ever have time. Instead, I tell them I'll reschedule, and then I do it while the promised meeting is still a fresh memory. Being flexible yet persistent works for me.

Shut up and listen. I admit I have the blabber-when-nervous gene. But I've found I've learned much more when shutting up and letting SMEs talk than when I've tried to impress them with my knowledge about the subject. This tactic requires another skill—being able to steer the conversation back on track when necessary.

Knowing what motivates my SME helps me get what I need. This is where the psychology gene kicks in. Some SMEs feel unappreciated and need to vent a little before getting down to business. Some SMEs lack confidence in their product knowledge, which can be perceived as reluctance to share information. Some SMEs don't have the ability to say they don't know something, so they will make something up. Some SMEs are just having a bad day and are grumpy. This insight comes with repeated interaction. I enjoy building relationships with people so I can react appropriately (and productively) in each situation.

Do some of these tactics seem manipulative? Perhaps. But I get results. I get my job done, they get their jobs done, we all meet our deadlines, and life is good. Brownies not required.