Elearning Subject matter experts (SMEs) are essential to L&D’s success. From understanding the context to developing the content, they shape your learning solutions. But their role doesn’t have to end there. With skill gaps and training needs on the rise, many L&D teams are looking for new approaches to meet demand. We spoke to L&D leaders from a number of large, global organizations to find out how they involve subject matter experts in successful elearning production at scale.

Why subject matter experts are essential to design elearning at scale

Changing customer expectations, digital transformation and increased regulation have left many businesses facing skill gaps. L&D is key to overcoming these issues, keeping pace with change and making sure businesses and employees have what they need to thrive. But L&D teams are struggling to keep up with the demand and the list of training requests continues to grow. If they want to avoid becoming a bottleneck, a new approach is needed.

For many large, global organizations, this has meant subject matter experts playing a bigger role in learning projects. Rather than just providing content, SMEs are becoming elearning authors. And with the help of rapid elearning authoring tools, the L&D teams we spoke to were seeing lots of benefits to this approach:

• Directly harnessing specific expertise areas
• Ensuring learning is relevant
• Responding to emerging skill gaps more quickly
• Unblocking L&D workflow so the team can focus on strategic oversight
• Supporting truly scalable elearning production 

What to consider when getting subject matter experts involved in authoring online learning course

Of course, it’s not just a case of handing out authoring tool licenses and waiting for the results. Before you get your subject matter experts producing elearning, you need to set them up for success. 

Here are three key factors you should consider:

• How can you best use your SMEs’ time?
  SMEs need to do their day job alongside their new elearning author role. Some may only produce elearning once a year. If you’re going to sustain their interest and keep to project timelines, you need to provide the right level of support and avoid overwhelming them. 
• How can you help SMEs produce effective learning?
  SMEs are content experts, not learning designers. They’re also used to sharing their expertise face-to-face, rather than digitally. No one wants to rework unengaging and ineffective elearning, so you need to provide a framework that empowers SMEs to produce quality straight away. Learn how to leverage your subject matter expert to build your dream elearning team.
• How can you maintain oversight and quality?
  Getting lots of different people from across your organization involved in authoring elearning can lead to a wide range of results. If you’re going to maintain consistency, you need to put a robust process in place.

How are other organizations setting subject matter experts up for success?

Whether starting out or well on their way to getting subject matter experts involved with elearning authoring, the L&D leaders that we talked to had many shared experiences, challenges, and successes. Every industry and organization may be different, but all these L&D teams highlighted the same four steps to help keep subject matter experts and elearning production on track.

1. Decide on your approach first

Don’t rush ahead and get SMEs creating elearning before you’ve decided on the approach you’re taking. Whether it’s design principles or a governance model, all the learning leaders we talked to said deciding on their approach upfront made it a smoother journey to elearning production at scale.

2. Provide an onboarding package

Get off to the right start by onboarding your SMEs. The aim is to get SMEs engaged and feeling comfortable with the project, rather than overwhelmed with technical details. From a short kick-off meeting to a design hub full of inspiring best practice examples, these L&D teams used a full range of onboarding tools to do this. 

3. Take steps to maintain quality

Onboarding is just the start. You need to provide SMEs with the right level of support throughout the project to ensure quality and consistency are maintained. Many L&D leaders were directly involved in key approval stages, but they also used templates, guidelines, and peer reviews to keep SMEs on the right path.

To streamline this process, you can explore these free elearning template designs that will save you (and your SMEs) hours.

4. Create momentum

L&D leaders who were further along in the process of scaling up elearning production found that their SME successes organically fed back into the process. As the number of elearning champions and author community grew, so did L&D engagement levels and their learning culture.

Explore more ways how you can transform the way you work with your subject matter experts.

Revolutionizing SME authoring at Decathlon: A case study

Decathlon, a leading global sports retailer, embarked on an innovative journey to transform its learning and development (L&D) approach. The mission was clear: empower every employee to shape their own career path through autonomous elearning creation.

The initiative began with a select group of content creators, which then rapidly expanded to a wider employee base. Supported by straightforward onboarding and guidance, these new elearning authors were given the freedom to create, adapt, and share courses globally. This approach enabled Decathlon to:

• Overcome geographical and sectoral learning barriers.
• Foster a sense of ownership and autonomy among employees.
• Facilitate easy course adaptation, ensuring relevance across different regions.

In just one year, this strategy led to over 1,000 employees in 41 countries producing nearly 5,000 courses, accessible to more than 90,000 learners. The result was not just an increase in learning content but also a boost in employee engagement and skills development.

Subject Matter Experts and the future of online learning

Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of elearning. Their involvement is key to enhancing both the capacity and quality of learning content. As highlighted in our State of Digital Learning Report 2024, SMEs are driving significant advancements in online learning. Here’s how:

Increasing L&D capacity

By getting involved in content creation, SMEs help L&D teams scale up their training offerings without compromising on quality. SMEs can efficiently turn their expertise into learning modules, easing the workload on L&D professionals.

Enhancing content quality

The depth of knowledge SMEs bring is invaluable in crafting high-quality elearning content. Their insights ensure that the training is not only informative but also deeply aligned with real-world applications.

Bridging knowledge gaps

SMEs are instrumental in identifying and closing knowledge gaps within the organization.
Their expertise can directly address specific learning needs, thereby enhancing overall employee competence.

Boosting employee retention

Engaging and relevant training content, developed by SMEs, can significantly improve employee retention. Tailored learning experiences make employees feel valued and invested in their professional growth.

The integration of SMEs into elearning represents a significant step towards more dynamic, effective, and personalized training solutions, crucial for the future of workplace learning.

In summary

If you want to stay ahead of training demand by scaling up elearning production, you need to involve subject matter experts. Getting SMEs onboard, engaged and producing effective learning isn’t straightforward. But the effort you put in at the start will pay off with a smoother production process. And, ultimately, this will lead to your team better meeting your organization’s current and future learning needs. 

We spoke to L&D leaders from a variety of industries who have put this approach into practice. Although they used different models and tools, they all highlighted four key steps to setting subject matter experts up for success:

• Establishing a clear approach from the start
• Getting SMEs on board without the overwhelm
• Providing the right level of support to maintain quality
• Enabling your SMEs feed back into the process with peer support

Want to hear more examples of how these L&D teams set their SMEs up for successful elearning production? Download our SME best practice guide.

The Subject Matter Expert (SME) relationship can make or break an elearning project. As your gateway to the content, audience and organization, working with subject matter experts has the potential to either derail development or keep you on track and steaming towards the end goal.

First things first – what is a Subject Matter Expert in elearning?

An SME is a person who brings content expertise to your elearning project. Experts in their field, they’ll provide the raw subject matter that the elearning course will cover. This includes knowledge of the theory (such as processes and policies) as well as stories and anecdotes that bring the theory to life. Their role is key when you are creating an elearning course, from the early days of identifying learning objectives to refining and reviewing the content. 

Where you’ll find an SME depends on the project – a health and safety course might see you calling on the head of compliance, while an onboarding module would involve the HR team’s input. 

Remember, the SME role doesn’t have to stop at being simply the source of knowledge. With the right support on hand, SMEs are well placed to create elearning themselves, empowered to make design decisions and build high-quality courses.

Your role as an elearning course manager: Empower for excellence

As an instructional designer, learning consultant or elearning project manager, your job is to build a positive and productive relationship with your Subject Matter Expert. You need to get them onside, get the best from them, and get them working in partnership with you to create the best practice for elearning. The mistakes of old – seeing them as simply a resource, there to ‘knowledge dump’ or pick holes in your design – are long gone.

Savvy L&D teams are now looking to take the opportunity of working with subject matter experts even further – by empowering them to produce the training themselves. 

At Elucidat we believe crowdsourcing elearning is the future – and SMEs are a key part of that vision. By positioning your L&D team as a center of excellence, rather than order takers, you can build a hub of organizational intelligence and effectiveness. With this approach, SMEs no longer simply feed their knowledge into a project for others to build; instead, the L&D team empower experts across the business to produce high-quality elearning themselves. This enables you to dramatically increase the volume of high-quality training materials that can be produced, in a fraction of the time.

This new way of thinking might bring with it some concerns:

• When letting multiple SMEs author content, how do you ensure consistency? Both visually and in terms of design approaches?
• How do you make sure novice authors produce the right level of quality?  

But have no fear – we’ve got the practical tools and best practice tips you need to ensure your Subject Matter Experts hit the ground running. 

Let’s explore how you can ensure you’re set up for success. 

Top tips for working with Subject Matter Experts and empowering them to get involved

1. Choose an authoring development tool that makes it quick and simple for novice authors to create high-quality elearning. Elucidat is designed to do just that, helping you crowdsource expertise from across your organization without risking quality. You can be confident in inviting SMEs to produce training directly in Elucidat with customizable user roles and permissions that provide you with flexibility and control, giving people access only to what they need.
2. Plan the support you can offer your Subject Matter Experts to grow their confidence with authoring. Turn your L&D team into a center of excellence by building a library of helpful resources to get novice authors up to speed quickly. This could include visual and tone of voice guidelines, best practice examples, and flagship projects. You’re the experts when it comes to learning design – set standards and share what best practice means for your organization.
3. Engage your SMEs from the beginning. Many Subject Matter Experts will be new to authoring content – some will be excited at the prospect of developing new skills, while others might be nervous about working with new technology. Empathize with how they’re feeling and discuss ways to put them at ease, such as the support that’s available from the L&D team, and the benefits of this development opportunity. But before you make a decision about their level of involvement, be sure to consider our next tip.
4. Be respectful of their time and other commitments. Discuss the schedule with them, don’t just impose it on them, and talk about how and when to involve them in a way that works for both parties.
5. You’re both experts in your field. The project needs both of you so discuss how to work collaboratively rather than authoritatively positioning yourself as the boss. Your role is to share best practices and empower them to get involved.
6. You might have different views on how to get there, but you both want a successful project and effective end product. Define your shared goal and refer back to it often.
7. If you have multiple Subject Matter Experts authoring content, encourage them to share their learnings and best practice with each other. As novice authors they’ll likely have similar questions, so creating a sharing culture will be really beneficial. As SMEs build their skills, find solutions and generate ideas, they can look to each other, as well as the L&D team, for support, sharing insights as a community.
8. Once a few of your Subject Matter Experts have grown in confidence and proved they can create learning of the right quality, encourage peer reviews. With so many SMEs growing their authoring skills, they’ll be more than capable of advising on best practice collectively – freeing up time for the L&D team. If you choose a tool with a review process built-in, like Elucidat, this kind of collaborative approach won’t slow things down. SMEs can add comments straight into the tool so there’s no uncertainty about which bit they’re referring to, and authors can respond directly if discussion is needed. There’s no version control issue, and the time required for the back-and-forth to get feedback implemented is vastly reduced. Find out how Elucidat’s collaborative authoring platform can help you do more in less time. 
9. At the end of the project – or even after any big milestones – say thank you. A little appreciation for their time and effort goes a long way. They’ve not only grown their skills, they’ve helped shape a community of experts able to share their expertise, advice and learnings with novice authors throughout the business. Their help will go a long way to getting training out into the business as quickly as possible, at scale.

Use Learning Accelerator to help you empower novice SME authors

As mentioned above, collaboration with your Subject Matter Experts can make the design process more efficient, more enjoyable and ultimately more successful. If SMEs are involved and invested as the project evolves, you’re far less likely to run into problems later on. And with the right tools, support and processes in place, getting them building the content themselves sets you up for even greater success. To help you do this, we’ve created Learning Accelerator. It’s designed to help you alleviate those fears of consistency and quality, optimizing the SME author experience to invite more of them in and with quicker results.

With Learning Accelerator Subject Matter Experts won’t need to start a new project from scratch. Instead, an easy to use recommendation engine will point them in the direction of a template tailored to their needs. This template acts as a template, with a ready-made design approach baked in and guidance on how to make it work for your content. 

There’s a template available to suit every kind of project, from in-depth process training and game-like quizzes to high level case studies and microlearning. 

Starting from a template sets authors up for success from the outset. It increases confidence, whether it’s a novice author easing into creating simple projects, or an advanced author looking to take their designs even further.  

Check out how to power up your online training capability to find out more. 

Not in a place to have SMEs authoring content themselves just yet? 

Not to worry. Here are some tips on how to best work with SMEs who are supporting elearning that your L&D team are building. 

• When meeting your Subject Matter Expert, start with a blank screen, questions and conversation. This will yield more valuable information than your SME simply talking through their material.
• It’s up to you to elicit the right kind of information and stories to support your objectives. Draw out anecdotes, case studies and the nuances of the subject that aren’t in the reference books. The golden rule here is to respect what they do. Ask the SME about their career and experience, not just the subject. This builds rapport and gives you valuable stories that bring the content to life.
• Draft intelligent questions ahead of discussing the content with your Subject Matter Expert. Remember you’re well placed to anticipate questions the end learners might have so don’t be afraid to interrogate the content.
• Invite their contributions as you create storyboards and develop the product. Flag where expert feedback is needed and welcome their opinions on the design and visuals, too.
• If they resist some of your ideas, don’t dismiss their concerns. Try to understand why they are wedded to ‘the old way’ and then demonstrate the benefits of your approach.

Summary

Subject Matter Experts are all too often the unsung heroes of elearning development. With the right tools and processes in place, you can empower them to become fully competent authors, able to build confidently, share best practice, and create quality training, super fast.  By harnessing their expertise and developing their skills in this way, you’ll see a collaborative relationship blossom that benefits the whole organization. 

Want to learn more?

The first three Learning Accelerator templates are free and available to add to your Elucidat account now.

Don’t have an account? Book a demo today and take the new update for a test drive with a free trial!

You can also sign up to our 3 part webinar series, where you’ll learn how to crowdsource training production without the risk – start engaging your Subject Matter Experts like the teammates they are!

Recent years have seen a huge increase in the volume of learning content out there. L&D teams are struggling to keep up, meaning employees are failing to find the learning content they need. If L&D is going to be effective, things need to change. Good news is, a recent RedThread Research study highlighted that a shift is already happening. Organizations are opening up learning content creation for more efficient L&D – here’s our summary of how they’re doing this.

Enabling content creation for more efficient L&D

With training demand still on the rise, the learning content dilemma isn’t going away any time soon. While many L&D teams think it’s a choice between a training backlog and content chaos, there is another way. If L&D are going to stop playing catch up and employees are going to get the learning they need to succeed, organizations need to take a different approach to content creation. 

Deputizing content creation establishes new workflows that empowers anyone in your organization to share their expertise and create effective, timely content. It enables you to focus L&D resources where they will have the biggest impact – whether that’s strategic business conversations or flagship learning programs. 

For all other learning content, you play a more consultative role. By providing guidelines, offering support and maintaining oversight, more consistent and effective learning content will be produced across your organization.

To learn more about how to effectively prioritize and outsource your content explore this new model for learning content coined by RedThread Research – or you can download the full research report.

5 steps to open up content creation for more efficient L&D

So, how can you enlist employees as more active participants in the creation of your learning content? RedThread Research outlined 5 steps that are key to effectively deputize content creators.

1. Build a foundation for collaborative content creation

Don’t rush ahead and get people creating learning content before you’ve decided on the approach you’re taking. Create a strategy and roadmap for how you will bring your stakeholders on board and work with your internal experts. Start by getting buy-in from senior leadership and across your organization. Identify employee content creators and suitable projects for them. Make sure everyone understands roles, responsibilities and priorities in learning content production.

Find out more about getting set up for success with our collaborative content creation workflow.

2. Remove barriers to access

It doesn’t matter how good your learning content is if your people have trouble accessing it. Whether it’s learning on the job or developing skills for the future, your employees need to easily find and use the learning they’re after. Wherever you host your content, remove barriers and make it easy to search. Where possible, make sure content is accessible across multiple devices. 

3. Enable knowledge sharing

L&D is often not best placed to determine which content is most appropriate across a variety of areas of the business. However, you do play a key role in enabling knowledge sharing. Identify the key players who have the expertise and understanding of the learning that your employees need. Offer learning design support to help them curate and create effective content. Decide how to draw attention to the key pieces of content they produce. 

4. Put guardrails into place

Your deputized content creators are not learning designers. They’re used to sharing their knowledge face to face, but not digitally. So, you need to provide a framework that empowers them to produce quality learning content with ease. Create and share guidelines, templates and best practice examples. Set up approval processes and governance to maintain oversight, consistency and standards. Remember that a lot of content will eventually become out of date, so set up expiry dates and user ratings.

Discover more ways to support your deputized content creators in our guide to setting up Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for success.

5. Lean into technology

The right technology partners and platforms can help you deliver impactful learning at scale. Build a tech stack that enables collaboration and captures your organization’s expertise. Look for functionality that will support your novice learning authors, like ready to use templates with baked-in design principles. Make sure the technology expands access to learning while helping people navigate your learning content easily. 

Want to explore some technology that supports learning production at scale? Check out Elucidat’s guided authoring functionality.

In summary

Faced with an increase in learning content, as well as rising training demand, RedThread Research has found L&D teams are looking for new ways to do things. They’re taking a more sustainable approach to learning and development by deputizing content creation. 

This approach not only harnesses expertise from across your organization, but frees you up to focus on strategic projects. Start by creating a plan for collaborative content creation in your organization. Remove barriers and enable knowledge sharing. Put processes in place and build a tech stack that supports your content creators and learners.

Want to learn more about empowering experts in your organization to create content? 

Download the RedThread Research report and check out the related panel webinar.

50% of L&D teams are looking to experts in their organizations to help with learning content creation. It’s the perfect way to deliver on the increasing demand for specific organizational skills. But as novices in learning design, can SMEs really deliver the right results? We explored this very challenge with David Hepworth, Learning Tech & Design Lead at Aviva who’s been living and breathing a collaborative content model for a while. Here are our five tips.

Why L&D are under pressure to find new ways to provide learning.

80% of L&D teams say they are being asked to deliver much more, with limited capacity to do so.

Of course, the fact that L&D teams are overstretched is not a new challenge. But demand for learning, and especially digital learning, has accelerated at a huge rate since the Covid Pandemic. The increase in demand is a great sign that L&D teams are (finally!) being valued. Yet it is an extra headache for learning managers – how to do more, with less? The pressure is on.

“The rise in digitization of content and the need to be variable in how we deliver has rapidly increased. That’s putting huge pressures on teams who create and source content across our industry…Compound that with rising costs…[the] needs for more expertise…and learners with incredibly high expectations…the world we’re in right now is not without its challenge!”
David Hepworth, Learning Technology & Design Lead at Aviva

Where SMEs can step up as learning content creators, to reduce the pressure

It’s no wonder that 50% of L&D teams are looking beyond their team for help with content creation.

Enter your Subject Matter Experts – otherwise known as the Lawyers, Product Managers, Sales and other experts in your organization. Here is a potential answer to addressing the rise in the need for specific skills in your organization.

Requests for specific skills are on the rise – who else will do it?

This brand new learning content model from industry analysts, RedThread Research in their latest paper, helpfully shows how specific and generic learning needs differ. Learn about this by watching an in-depth discussion with RedThread and other learning experts by watching this webinar recording (and get access to the report ahead of its release). 

Whereas generic content can be bought off the shelf, specific skills are what sets your organization apart from competitors. And it’s these needs that are not only on the rise, but that depends on in-house experts. So why not go further than partnering with them to ‘get their input’, to actually have them produce content?

Quality counts: how can SMEs create impactful elearning?

There’s a big but with this model: Quality.

How can you ensure that an in-house expert who specializes in their subject, but who isn’t a learning designer won’t:

– dump in too much
– go off-brand
– deliver content, but not an experience that supports learning?

“You know, one of the tongue in cheek comments I often make is that the typical habit of an SME is to vomit on a page because they want to impart all of their knowledge and all of their wisdom and all of their understanding and sometimes mistake what really matters”.

David Hepworth, Learning Technology & Design Lead at Aviva

Engagement + relevance + clarity + examples or stories + activities. These are the kinds of ingredients to impactful elearning. So how can we support SMEs who are novices to learning design to be successful?

 5 ways to empower SMEs to create impactful digital learning

1. Use templates

An obvious point to start with perhaps, but you’d be surprised by the number of learning teams who give SMEs a blank canvas to get started with. No wonder many of those projects don’t get off the ground.

Templates, designed by learning professionals in your team, with specific purposes in mind, are a no-brainer.  Make sure they are on brand, ready-styled, and have a sensible flow to them. 

“Painting by numbers can still create masterpieces – avoid the temptation to start from scratch” 

David Hepworth, Learning Technology & Design Lead at Aviva

2. Don’t ‘just’ give a template – impart guidance

A template, even with on-brand styling and a structure, is still an empty shell. Go further and impart advice and guidance in your template. For example, as learning designers you know that the opening statement in any digital learning needs to ‘pitch’ the module to the audience. It starts with ‘What’s in it for me?’. So add in some guidance text that asks for that. 

One customer described this as like having a ‘Designer in your pocket’.

3. Make asking for help as easy as possible

In their normal day job, an in-house expert will turn to a colleague for advice or input when they need it. They need to be able to this easily in their elearning creation too. Encourage it in fact, to help them get their project done more efficiently.

Look for authoring platforms that have easy-to-use, collaboration capabilities.

4. Set standards, and always review

The key to ensuring SMEs can create impactful elearning is to set and hold up standards. You can do this in your templates and the guidance they include, of course, but we recommend going further.

At Aviva, novice elearning designers have to meet a benchmark. They are asked to take a super short course in effective elearning design. “We set a framework for what good learning is and how to approach good learning design”. After that, the novice author is given their ‘license’ to practise.

We’d also encourage that every project is reviewed. In other words, rather than allowing a novice author to release an elearning project, remove that option from their permissions. Instead, they need to get their project reviewed by an experienced elearning designer from the L&D team.

Once the L&D professional can see the project has been reviewed and tickets closed out, they know it’s good to go. So the L&D team still holds control over what goes out the door.

5. Create and build a community

David is passionate about the role of community. Whilst some SMEs may produce one or two projects, others may go on to produce hundreds. So it’s key that they feel supported, encouraged and part of the learning family.

“We have events, we have lunch and learns. We’re talking to each other, we’re working with each other”

David calls their approach at Aviva a ‘hub and spoke’ model. L&D professionals are there to set and uphold standards and empower and encourage a network of employees to carry that out. This means they are there to be coaches, consultants, reviewers and listeners!

“As your community grows so will your mix of experience and expertise, leverage the growing community to accelerate the authoring capabilities of your SME’s, listen to pain points and challenges and fan the flames of your community by investing in them”
David Hepworth, Learning Technology & Design Lead at Aviva

Think collaboratively

At Elucidat, we see collaborative content creation as the heartbeat of the new way to get learning content and experiences created. 

One where specialists in learning design can focus on strategic projects, performance consultancy, and designing those crown-jewel projects. And they gain the time to do this by empowering novice authors, like SMEs, to work on more straightforward, skill-specific projects.

Use these steps to ensure you’re setting up your SMEs to be successful in their elearning creation.

Explore real-world examples

Discover more how nCino, a global leader in cloud banking, has empowered three novice authors to deliver effective learning modules in no time, to the right standards.

Looking for the right tool for the job? Elucidat’s Company Templates feature can help you empower your people to create impactful digital learning, on a global scale, without the risk. Get in contact to learn more!

Already an Elucidat customer? Contact your Customer Success Manager to learn more about this functionality.