How to be an expert

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with another participant on the Deloitte Digital Connect programme to share my expertise.

Up to this point, the programme had mostly been about me getting help from other experts and participants. My mentor at Deloitte is also helping a different participant who wanted advice about online educational platforms. Given that my charity provides educational resources and debating online, my mentor thought I would be well-placed to give some advice to the other participant. Now, I had to play at being the expert.

I was a bit nervous about providing “expert” advice on this topic, but of course I agreed. To be honest, I wish I could have provided more technical advice, but unfortunately I do not have much experience of platforms apart from the ones that my organisation uses.

Nevertheless by talking through the issues together, we came up with some possible solutions regarding which educational platforms are best for people with limited computer hardware and knowledge. In this way, I was less of an expert and more of a colleague helping out in a mind mapping session.

Even though I could not provide a straightforward, clear answer it was a good experience. It highlighted how important it is to discuss problems with other people from different organisations, to learn from their experiences. Even if you don’t find a solution, you can still get some useful information. However, it also showed me what knowledge I need to improve upon in order to become a real “expert”, like my Deloitte mentors.