Discover Your Inner Subject Matter Expert with Guru

Becoming a subject matter expert is more than knowing a lot about a particular topic. Here's how you can become a true SME with help from Guru.
Table of Contents

Is there anyone who wouldn’t want to be seen as a subject matter expert at work? Being an SME goes deeper than just being knowledgeable about a certain topic. SMEs can significantly influence their individual teams and their company as a whole. They’re often recognized as highly valuable employees, and workplaces can find various ways to reward that.

Man saying “I can do absolutely anything. I’m an expert.
That's the energy we like to see

The importance of subject matter experts at work has been covered before, but that post was all about finding the ones that exist at your workplace. What do you do if you're the subject matter expert that wants to share your expertise?

It’s easy to use Guru to showcase your expert-level knowledge at work. Here’s what you need to do if you want your co-workers and manager to start seeing you as the subject matter expert you truly are.

Share your knowledge

Doing great work is one thing, but helping others in your organization do great work is another. The true value of SMEs isn’t just in the work they do; it’s how they help other people do their work. When you share your knowledge, you’re giving people the opportunity to learn from you and do even better work. The knowledge you have about your subject can be incredibly valuable to other people on your team or even your entire company.

Guru Collage Image-Library-60

Have you found a way to save time doing a common task? Do you have ideas about improving a process or procedure at work? Did you just attend a great talk that's helping you see a certain subject in a new and helpful light?  Create a Card and share that knowledge with your colleagues!

Subject matter experts always have a lot of knowledge to share. Don’t worry about sinking too much time into creating your Cards, our Assist feature can be one of your most helpful tools for sharing and documenting knowledge. You can easily use Assist to summarize long blocks of text, adjust the text for voice and tone, and even act as a second pair of eyes on your work when you’re writing and editing.

Take a deep dive into org structure

Do you understand how certain teams and departments are structured at your job? You may know of certain department leaders, but you may not know a lot about individual managers, their direct reports, or how different teams work together.

Having some insight into team structures can help SMEs in the long run. Knowing who to go to with certain questions and tasks can save plenty of time in your workday. Take a little time to learn more about your team and the other important people in your company by looking at your org chart. Check out employee profiles to learn more about your fellow co-workers, and start identifying people you could collaborate with and potentially learn from.

Identify and fill knowledge gaps

SMEs aren’t just knowledgeable about specific topics; they also tend to be adept problem solvers. They’re able to use all of their acquired knowledge and expertise to improve processes, bring new ideas to the table, and help jumpstart innovation at work. They can see where things need to be improved or rethought, and that ability makes them an even more valuable resource at work.

You want to use your expertise to solve some of your biggest problems at work. The only issue is that you don’t really know what those problems are. You don’t go to leadership meetings and don’t have the “inside scoop” on your team’s current pain points. Luckily, there’s a way for you to gain some additional insight into where your help could be needed the most.

Set up Guru’s Trending Topics for Slack in the channels you and your team are the most active in. You’ll gain valuable insight into what questions are being asked and what topics are the most popular among your team, and see if there are some knowledge gaps you can fill. Even if you find things outside of your known expertise, you can still find and surface valuable knowledge and topics for other SMEs.

Stay in the loop

If there’s one thing SMEs are good at, it’s staying informed. We know that you have a few projects you’re tracking. There may even be a few other SMEs on your team or in your org that you like to learn from. Luckily, Guru makes it easier for you to stay in the loop at work.

If you want to up your SME game, consider following Cards and Authors. When you follow Cards and Authors, you can get alerted when Cards are edited or when Authors publish new content. This can help keep you clued on important updates and can make your knowledge even stronger.

Become a true SME with Guru

Becoming a true subject matter expert can only benefit you and your team. Aside from adding plenty of knowledge and know-how to your workplace, being an SME can help your career in the long run and set you up for future success.

You’ll need a reliable tool if you want to document and showcase your expertise at work. Take some time to see what Guru can do for you, your company, and other subject matter experts.

Is there anyone who wouldn’t want to be seen as a subject matter expert at work? Being an SME goes deeper than just being knowledgeable about a certain topic. SMEs can significantly influence their individual teams and their company as a whole. They’re often recognized as highly valuable employees, and workplaces can find various ways to reward that.

Man saying “I can do absolutely anything. I’m an expert.
That's the energy we like to see

The importance of subject matter experts at work has been covered before, but that post was all about finding the ones that exist at your workplace. What do you do if you're the subject matter expert that wants to share your expertise?

It’s easy to use Guru to showcase your expert-level knowledge at work. Here’s what you need to do if you want your co-workers and manager to start seeing you as the subject matter expert you truly are.

Share your knowledge

Doing great work is one thing, but helping others in your organization do great work is another. The true value of SMEs isn’t just in the work they do; it’s how they help other people do their work. When you share your knowledge, you’re giving people the opportunity to learn from you and do even better work. The knowledge you have about your subject can be incredibly valuable to other people on your team or even your entire company.

Guru Collage Image-Library-60

Have you found a way to save time doing a common task? Do you have ideas about improving a process or procedure at work? Did you just attend a great talk that's helping you see a certain subject in a new and helpful light?  Create a Card and share that knowledge with your colleagues!

Subject matter experts always have a lot of knowledge to share. Don’t worry about sinking too much time into creating your Cards, our Assist feature can be one of your most helpful tools for sharing and documenting knowledge. You can easily use Assist to summarize long blocks of text, adjust the text for voice and tone, and even act as a second pair of eyes on your work when you’re writing and editing.

Take a deep dive into org structure

Do you understand how certain teams and departments are structured at your job? You may know of certain department leaders, but you may not know a lot about individual managers, their direct reports, or how different teams work together.

Having some insight into team structures can help SMEs in the long run. Knowing who to go to with certain questions and tasks can save plenty of time in your workday. Take a little time to learn more about your team and the other important people in your company by looking at your org chart. Check out employee profiles to learn more about your fellow co-workers, and start identifying people you could collaborate with and potentially learn from.

Identify and fill knowledge gaps

SMEs aren’t just knowledgeable about specific topics; they also tend to be adept problem solvers. They’re able to use all of their acquired knowledge and expertise to improve processes, bring new ideas to the table, and help jumpstart innovation at work. They can see where things need to be improved or rethought, and that ability makes them an even more valuable resource at work.

You want to use your expertise to solve some of your biggest problems at work. The only issue is that you don’t really know what those problems are. You don’t go to leadership meetings and don’t have the “inside scoop” on your team’s current pain points. Luckily, there’s a way for you to gain some additional insight into where your help could be needed the most.

Set up Guru’s Trending Topics for Slack in the channels you and your team are the most active in. You’ll gain valuable insight into what questions are being asked and what topics are the most popular among your team, and see if there are some knowledge gaps you can fill. Even if you find things outside of your known expertise, you can still find and surface valuable knowledge and topics for other SMEs.

Stay in the loop

If there’s one thing SMEs are good at, it’s staying informed. We know that you have a few projects you’re tracking. There may even be a few other SMEs on your team or in your org that you like to learn from. Luckily, Guru makes it easier for you to stay in the loop at work.

If you want to up your SME game, consider following Cards and Authors. When you follow Cards and Authors, you can get alerted when Cards are edited or when Authors publish new content. This can help keep you clued on important updates and can make your knowledge even stronger.

Become a true SME with Guru

Becoming a true subject matter expert can only benefit you and your team. Aside from adding plenty of knowledge and know-how to your workplace, being an SME can help your career in the long run and set you up for future success.

You’ll need a reliable tool if you want to document and showcase your expertise at work. Take some time to see what Guru can do for you, your company, and other subject matter experts.

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