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MODULE 1
Identifying Collaboration
Breakdowns
Hi! I’m Stacie, and I’ll be your guide throughout this course. After more than a decade partnering with SMEs across SaaS learning environments, I’ve learned that most project breakdowns are not caused by difficult people; they’re caused by unclear expectations, ownership, and processes.
Before we dive into this lesson, lets make sure you know what to expect from this course.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Before you begin
Throughout this course, you’ll work through realistic project scenarios, collaboration challenges, and operational breakdowns commonly experienced during learning development projects. Rather than focusing on theory alone, this experience is designed to help you recognize patterns, strengthen communication, and apply practical strategies you can use immediately in your own work.
EST TIME
60 - 75 MINUTES
You may complete the course in one sitting or return to modules as needed. Each module should take 10 - 15 minutes.
COURSE MODULES
There are 5 interactive modules, each taking 10-15 minutes to compelete.
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Identifying Collaboration Breakdowns
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Clarifying Responsibilities & Roles
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Running Better SME Meetings
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Improving Review & Feedback Cycles
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Difficult SME Dynamics
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION
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complete all five modules
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participate in interactive activities and scenario exercises
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pass the final assessment with a score of 80% or higher
The final assessment focuses on applying concepts to realistic workplace situations rather than memorizing terminology.
What You’ll Receive
After successfully completing the course, you’ll receive:
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a digital certificate of completion
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a downloadable SME collaboration toolkit
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practical frameworks and strategies you can apply immediately to future projects
As you move through this course, you’ll begin to recognize that strong SME management is not about controlling people or eliminating every challenge from the development process.
It’s about creating the clarity, structure, and trust that help cross-functional teams collaborate more effectively under pressure.
Most project breakdowns do not happen all at once. They build gradually through unclear expectations, inconsistent communication, and undefined processes.
Let’s start off exploring some of the most common ways SME partnerships start to break down.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
Where SME reliant projects break down
Most SME projects do not fail because people lack expertise or effort. They break down when roles, expectations, and review processes are never clearly defined. Before improving collaboration, we first need to understand where friction typically begins.
When collaboration lacks structure, projects begin to break down:
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Feedback shows up late
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Reviewers disagree
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Timelines slip
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SMEs rewrite instead of reviewing
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Nobody knows who has final approval
Most SME challenges are not personality problems. They are process problems. See if you can spot the problem in the familiar scenario below.
Click the right arrow to move through the scenario and spot the breakdown.
WEEK 1
THE KICKOFF
Strong Start
You delivered the project kickoff and everyone is excited about the new training initiative.
Timelines seem achievable, and stakeholders agree on the overall goal.
At the end of the meeting, your SMEs say:
“Just send me what you need.”
IDENTIFYING THE ISSUE
What went wrong?
Great work! Throughout this course, you’ll pause to reflect on common collaboration patterns and operational challenges that appear during learning projects.
I recommend capturing your reflections as you move through each module. These moments are designed to help you connect the concepts to your own projects and strengthen long-term application.
Let’s start with the following reflection.
REFLECTION
If you could go back to the beginning of a difficult project, what expectation or responsibility would you have clarified earlier?
Review
Ownership
Communication Expectations
Stakeholder
Roles
Feedback
Scope
Approval
Authority
Timelines &
Deadlines
As you moved through the scenario, it became clear the project lacked clearly defined roles, review expectations, approval ownership, feedback governance, and structured communication practices.
As stakeholders and feedback increased, the absence of process created confusion, rework, and decision paralysis. Strong SME partnerships depend on intentional collaboration systems, not informal coordination alone.
Now that we've covered the common issues that can derail your collaborative efforts with SMEs, let's focus on strategies that ensure clear expectations, processes, and communication remain firmly in place for smooth development on every design project.
PROVEN PREVENTIONS
Preventing project breakdown
Your SME partnerships are the most important design tool you have to level up content, so it's vital to create the clarity, processes, and structure your SMEs need to collaborate with efficiency and impact.
Before the end of this course, we will cover three key areas to focus your SME management efforts to ensure your next project is a success.
Most SME collaboration problems don’t begin during review cycles.
They begin much earlier:
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when ownership is unclear
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when expectations are assumed
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when feedback structures are undefined
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when communication relies on improvisation instead of process
Strong learning teams don’t wait for chaos before introducing structure.
They build alignment early, create intentional collaboration systems, and guide SMEs through the process with clarity and confidence.
In the next module, we’ll focus on one of the most important foundations of successful SME partnerships: clarifying expectations before development begins. See you there!