Re: Another question I've had for years...

[Tony Markos <ajmarkos -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

SME's have no time to give info?  SME's just plain
reluctant to give info?

Of course, as you suggest, approaching people
according to their personality type helps.  But
another part of the solution is to realize what the
underlying problem is.  It may be that a SME is just
very busy.  In such situations it helps to, as much as
possible, accommodate his/her schedule.  

But I have found that, more often than not, the main
underlying issue is that I am trying to solicit
essential procedural information, causing me to have
to face one of two possible problems:

  1.) Knowledge of essential procedure is turf (i.e.,
power), and people (SME's) will defend "their" turf to
the death. 

  2.) Lack of knowledge of essential procedure clearly
demonstrates incompetence; and therefore, people
strongly avoid saying anything that will reveal lack
of such knowledge. 

In both situations, developing trust is the best
long-term solution.  If that don't work, and for the
short-term, I use data flow diagrams to rigorously
define what procedural related questions I need to
ask, and to enforce that conversations with the SME
stay on track (i.e., guard against purposeful attempts
to baffle me).

Of course, when you create data flow diagrams, you
have to be real careful.  If your SME's are insecure,
just the sight of one may cause them to tremble.  In
such situations, I make sure that that they don't see
the diagrams.  I create them on the sly and just use
them to design my questions and to clearly define my
SME interviewing agenda.

All of the above works, but how candid one can be in a
job interveiw about discussing the use of such an
approach is a another matter.

Tony Markos

--- Jim Barrow <vrfour -at- earthlink -dot- net> wrote:


This one has to do with the interview process. 
Specifically, the interview with the person that
will, or will not, hire me.
 
When recalling all of the interviews that I have
had, some questions remain constant throughout each:

"Was the traffic bad?"
"What do you know about our company?"
"Are you familiar with Microsoft Office?"
> 
There has also been a question that causes me to
pause every time:
 
"How would you get information from subject matter
experts that are being...difficult?  Let's say that
they never had the time to speak with you, or they
were reluctant to give you the information that you
needed."

Years ago, I usually replied saying that I would
pursue these SMEs doggedly.  In the last year, I've
softened that response and changed it to say that I
would approach each SME according to his personality
type.  For instance, if an engineer only liked to
talk to other engineers, then I would try to show
him that I was taking a real interest in what he was
doing.
 
If another SME liked to talk while he worked, then I
would write while he worked.  If another liked to
talk over coffee...well, you get the idea.

Today's question is simple:  Is there a better
answer to this question than the one that I've
detailed above?
 
Thanks,
 
Jim



		
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