Re: Make it Pretty for the SMEs You Want to Interview

[Donna Horowitz <horowit -at- en -dot- com>]

We had a situation at the place that laid me off. I had worked there
11 years. I had established a level of respect and understanding of
my team's expertise. The engineers/SMEs used to say at first, "You
can take what Harry wrote here and do your magic." At first that
meant taking Harry's exact words and adding punctuation, headers,
footers, blah blah blah.

After a while, of course, with my persuasive enlightenment, they came
to realize that I did more than add aesthetic embellishments. So then
when they said, "Take what Harry did and do your magic," it meant
something completely different. I worked hard to establish respect
and was often told (kiddingly) that the engineers were scared of
me--they knew I'd always stick to my guns when we had a difference
but also said they knew I'd do it right.

Now, since I've been laid off, the junior writer is still there, and
they have nearly started from scratch with her again though she was
part of my team. She simply says ok, if that's what you want, no
problem. It bothers her that they do not recognize that she does more
than embellish, but she does not like to have to ask for the
continued respect she believes should be forthcoming. When we talk, I
suggest to her ways to impress her point, but she is very reserved
and seems not to want to do that. Plus, she is soon to leave for a
better position, so part of her doesn't care.

I on the other hand fight to the end to maintain my respect with my
SMEs. I don't think it's something you can ever assume, and I think
you can lose it. Much of it is a matter of trust, and once they trust
you, they respect what you do even if their way of complimenting  you
does not seem to support that. I always felt that if I'm a
communicator, I should be able to communicate what I do, well and
with some degree of finesse despite the instigation or the reaction.

Pondering whether being laid off invalidates my opinion but ignoring
any impediment to sharing my perspective ?




--
Donna M. Horowitz

Hectic but free
no other way to be
life is joyous when
you pursue
what you love.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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