From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsmooth the way/path for somethingsmooth the way/path for somethingEASYto make it easier for something to happen, by dealing with any problems first Staff helped smooth the way for the new administration. → smooth
Examples from the Corpus
smooth the way/path for something• The company said it has assigned more than 2,000 employees to help smooth the way for competition.• Well, you could break all the moulds by smoothing the way for Mary O'Rourke to come through as your successor. 