Change Team Roles - Subject Matter Experts
The Subject Matter Expert (SME) delivers a deep and/or specialised knowledge of specific processes, systems, tools, or business functions that are impacted by or are central to the change initiative.
They are crucial for grounding change initiatives in reality and ensuring their practical success.
SMEs serve as a critical resource for ensuring the change initiative is practical, feasible, and aligned with the operational and technical realities of the organization.
SMEs can come from within the organisation. The individuals seconded or transferred, full or part-time to the change team have expert knowledge and understanding of the work a specific team or department affected by the change initiative performs.
While they may not have core deliverables, they are responsibilities for sharing their expertise with the change team. This includes:
- Providing expertise contributions to various members of the change team with:
- Specialised knowledge related to the area of change. For example, specific technologies, business processes, or regulatory requirements.
- Insights into the current state of operations and how proposed changes will affect them.
- Serving as a trusted advisor on best practices, potential challenges, and opportunities within their area of expertise.
- Collaborating with the change management team to design and validate change strategies, plans, and solutions.
- Providing input on workflows, systems, or policies to ensure alignment with business needs and industry standards.
- Identifying gaps or inconsistencies in proposed changes and recommend adjustments.
- Identifying potential risks or bottlenecks related to their domain and suggest mitigation strategies.
- Highlighting dependencies between their area of expertise and other aspects of the change initiative.
- Implementation and training support with:
- Acting as a liaison between the change management team and end-users, translating technical or specialized information into actionable insights.
- Assisting the Training Lead to develop materials and deliver training sessions based on expert knowledge.
- Testing and validating new processes or systems to ensure they function as intended.
- Supporting the implementation of changes by ensuring processes, tools, and systems are configured correctly.
- Offering hands-on assistance during transition phases, ensuring smooth adoption of the change.
- Developing and maintaining accurate documentation for processes, systems, and changes within their domain.
- Sharing knowledge with other team members to ensure a cohesive understanding of specialized areas.
- Providing ongoing support to ensure the change is embedded successfully within the organization.
By leveraging their specialised knowledge, SMEs help avoid costly mistakes, streamline implementation, and build stakeholder confidence in the change. Their contributions ensure that changes are not only strategic but also operationally viable, setting the stage for sustainable success.
