Eight Ways for Subject Matter Experts to Communicate Complex Requirements
1. Verbal discussion with written follow-up — for the oral learner, with written confirmation to avoid being misquoted or misunderstood
2. Graphs or charts — for project managers, to provide comparisons, updates or timelines
3. Bullet points/digital slide deck — when general information will suffice
4. Emails — when detail involving a few discrete points or written confirmation is required
5. Edits to existing documents — when there is a need for precision in the document
6. Memos — when thorough analysis is required and reasoning must be explained
7. Decision trees — when the details count, for technical and non-technical audiences
8. Algorithms — when the details count, for technical audiences
Remember, most people do not really want or need to understand the complexity of the requirements. Just share what they need to know, keeping it as simple as possible.
