Help! How to get SME feedback on time?

In person meetings really helped my company's efforts in utilizing SME's time and efforts.  It sometimes feels counter productive to hand hold them through a course or document but what it boils down to is dedicated time to the project.

 I totally agree that in-person meetings tend to keep a project on track better than conference calls and emails.  Unfortunately, 80% of my projects involve SMEs outside of the state or the country.

What I have been trying to do is schedule a weekly working call with the Lead SME. If the meeting is canceled by the SME due to work conflicts, I  have been setting up a meeting the same week (if possible) verses letting them go another full week without providing the information needed. 

I’m to the point of offer bribes to get final signoff for a couple of projects at the very moment.

I am in the somewhat fortunate position to work as an in-house designer and developer. When I send out courses for review I include a statement somewhat like this, "You prompt response is an important part of the process of developing this course. I need to have feedback within one week. Your silence will be taken as approval." My manager was the one who suggested this approach. After a week I will email them again asking for feedback, this email will also be cc'd to my manager and their manager. If I don't get a response soon after I develop the course based on their approval. This approach won't work for everyone, but it does work for me.

@cary - that's a good idea. I have not tried that with storyboard approval only testing reviews. I will give it a try. Thanks

Is there a deadline driving the completion of the project? If so, you could always says "If I don't receive your approval by this date, we will have to push back the final delivery date." That may be a way to motivate them if the deadline is important to them. 

The launch goal/deadline is set by the Lead SME and myself when the project is kicked off after the project has been scoped, objectives agreed upon and schedules checked. The exception is when we are training on a new product release. So many of the SMEs have the ‘its not on my performance goals, so let it be delayed’ attitude.  

 I understand customer’s come first, but at what point do you use ‘tough love’.   I have a project that has been on hold for 2 months due to vacations and delay of needed media (images, video). Yesterday I notified all the involved parties that I had no media to support an objective and if they could not supply it by Friday, the objective would be cut.  It actually worked. I received 5 images today.  I guess the lesson for me is to be more aggressive.

@Cheryl,

Great post! I deal with the same behavior and it's very frustrating. I like @Cary's suggestion of "no response within a week means it's a go".

I'm interested in what others have to say about dealing with uncooperative SME's. 

Be absolutely clear with everyone on the project, from the start, that everyone has a major part to play. If they want to play the "...but training is a small % of my time" card, then politely explain that this course is (probably...) only one of several that YOU are dealing with.

Once again - talk business. The success of the course should be ties to the success of the company, company projects etc. Make it clear to everyone that there is an impact to the business if timescales are not met. Cost it out if necessary.

I would not say "Be aggressive", but certainly "Be assertive". Do not be afraid to be the expert in what YOU do.

PS - I work almost entirely remotely, on projects around the World. Working as a complete professional partner, as equals, is something that is recognised anywhere IMHO. A lot of IDs seem to be scared to behave as business professionals, and want to keep their role as "providers". If you do that, you will NEVER gain a business status in the eyes of the SMEs where they view what you do as valuable, and make time for it when they are under pressure. Sometimes it is upto us to change ourselves in order to make things better.

I agree with Allison's approach, if they want the job done on budget and on time then it's their responsibility to review on time.

It's always worth putting together a Statement of Work at the outset of a project where each stakeholder's responsibilities are listed. Each stakeholder should sign the statement agreeing that they will adhere to its specification, that way there is accountability when someone fails to deliver.

In your statement of work you could include caveats that for example cover the consequences of late review and the effect on budget and time that this may have. Be careful though, they might go tit-for-tat and be less forgiving if you ever drop the ball!

You really need to involve the stakeholders and project sponsor. After all, if it's coming out of their budget and being held up, they should know about it. Additionally, they can often get the SME's time re-prioritized so that they can focus on your project. Hope it helps!

Thanks a lot ! http://goo.gl/82vgc7

I really like Cary's method (especially if it's in house): "You prompt response is an important part of the process of developing this course. I need to have feedback within one week. Your silence will be taken as approval."

I think another method if you're a freelancer is the The Magic Email:

"Since I have not heard from you on this, I have to assume your priorities have changed."

It's vague enough that you're not by any means calling the project off, but at the same time suggesting "give me something now or else this is done with."

I think that this email should only been used say when you've been waiting a couple of months or something ridiculous. Up until then, everyone else's advice is spot on :) (involving the stakeholders, project sponsor, etc.) 

With some of my SMEs, I hold their payment until the content is completed and peer-reviewed. I've also sent them Outlook invites that will pop up a weekly (or however often is necessary) reminder. I nag a lot via text and email....my SMEs are all clinicians, researchers, or medical faculty, and their erratic schedules and workloads make it difficult to stick to deadlines.