Whew, but that's a big question. Without knowing more about your situation, it's hard to know what to tell you.
In theory, an SM with NO technical knowledge can run tech pretty well, since the designers should be doing all that tech "heavy lifting." In practice it helps a lot to know what goes into "adjusting levels," "repatching," "focusing," "EQing," "linking Qs in Qlab," etc., etc. so that you can estimate how long those tasks are going to take, and if another department can be working on something else at the same time, or if you should call a break for the actors.
Unfortunately, a lot of that knowledge comes from previous SM experience, or having worked in those departments, before. There's no way you're going to pick up what you're looking for in book learning before tech.
I'd suggest being honest with the design team going in. "I don't really know or understand a lot about your department, but I want to learn while making sure tech goes as smoothly as possible. Can you help me out by letting me know what you're doing when we stop, and how long you think it will take?"
Good luck!