When and How to Conduct an Opportunity Framing Workshop.

If you’re about to kick off a new project and want to ensure it’s set up for success from day one, let me stop you right there—do not move forward until you’ve conducted an Opportunity Framing Workshop. Why? Because this is your chance to gain laser-sharp clarity, align every key player, and ensure your project isn’t just a task-driven endeavor but a strategically aligned, decision-driven success story.

The difference between projects that thrive and those that stumble often comes down to one thing: THE FOUNDATION. And there’s no better way to lay a solid foundation than by framing the opportunity properly. It’s not just another meeting—it’s the most critical session to ensure you’re heading in the right direction, with the right people, and the right plan.

Why Opportunity Framing Is Your First (and Best) Move

Many projects get bogged down in chaos, missed deadlines, stakeholder disagreements, and endless revisions because they lacked clarity from the beginning. Traditional project planning often focuses on moving as fast as possible into execution, but that rush often leads to costly missteps.

Opportunity Framing Workshops change all of that. Instead of diving straight into tasks, you step back and ask:

• What is the true value of this opportunity?
• What are we chasing?
• What does success look like?
• What are the options?
• How will we decide?
• Who are the key stakeholders?
• What do we know, and what don't we know?
• What is the way forward?
• What if we do nothing?

When you take the time to frame the opportunity correctly, you’re making sure that everyone is rowing in the same direction and that your path is clear. It’s like sharpening the saw before cutting the tree—it saves you time, effort, and costly mistakes down the line. Plus, it gives you the confidence that your project is built on a rock-solid foundation.

When to Conduct an Opportunity Framing Workshop: Timing Is Everything

You might be wondering, “When is the right time to conduct an opportunity framing workshop?” The answer is as early as possible—preferably in the Assess or Concept Select phase of your project lifecycle.

Why so early? Because this is the time when you are exploring the feasibility of your project, identifying potential solutions, and deciding which path will bring the most value. This is where opportunity framing shines—before you jump into execution or detailed planning, you need to align on what exactly you’re solving, how to solve it, and why it’s worth solving.

Here are a few scenarios where conducting an Opportunity Framing Workshop early is critical:

1. At the Start of a New Project: You’re embarking on a fresh project with multiple stakeholders, and you need to ensure everyone is aligned on the project’s objectives, risks, and value proposition.
2. When You’re Exploring Multiple Solutions: You have various options on the table and need to decide which one is the most optimal. Framing the opportunity helps you weigh each option carefully and choose the path that brings the greatest strategic value.
3. For Complex, Multi-Stakeholder Projects: If you’re dealing with a project that involves multiple teams, departments, or external partners, opportunity framing is your best chance to align everyone before the project gains momentum.
4. Before Major Investments: Before committing significant resources (time, money, or people), framing helps you validate that the project is viable and strategically aligned.

How to Conduct an Opportunity Framing Workshop: Practical Tips for Success

Now that you know when to conduct your workshop, let’s talk about how to run one that drives maximum results. Whether you’re facilitating it in person or virtually, the goal is the same: to ensure clarity, alignment, and decision-making.

Here are some practical tips to make your Opportunity Framing Workshop the most productive and impactful meeting you’ll have.

1. Start with the Right People in the Room

Your framing workshop is only as good as the people in it. You need the right stakeholders—decision-makers, key influencers, and subject matter experts. Make sure you invite those who understand the project’s strategic importance and who can speak to the various challenges and opportunities.

For example, if you’re framing an opportunity for an oil and gas project, ensure that representatives from technical teams, environmental groups, finance, and operations are all present. Their input is vital in shaping the project’s roadmap.

2. Understand the current landscape to build a valuable project scope

Before you dive into options or solutions, spend time defining what the opportunity is. What are you trying to achieve? What does success look like? Make sure everyone understands the big picture and agrees on the fundamental purpose of the project.

Ask questions such as:

• What do we know, and what don’t we know?
• What assumptions are we making?
• Where is the value coming from?
• What are we trying to achieve?
• What are the main issues, risks and concerns?
• What is in the scope and what is outside?

You might find that different people have different ideas in mind or are seeing things from entirely different perspectives.

Pro Tip 1: Your job as a facilitator is to help the group align and make it easier for them to agree on the way forward.

Pro Tip 2: One of the major benefits of opportunity framing is that it allows you to identify risks before they become major roadblocks. As a group, brainstorm all possible risks and challenges that could affect the project’s success. By surfacing these early, you can create contingency plans and mitigate issues before they become costly mistakes.

3. Formulate project targets and build alternatives to achieve project success

The biggest challenge in projects is Executives rushing into execution which leads to suboptimal solutions, scope creep, stakeholders misalignment, lack of team focus and a lot of frustration on a way.

In this stage ask questions to explore:

• What does success look like to guide the strategy and execution
• What decisions we need to make and what decisions have already been made
• What options or alternatives do we have and how will we decide upon them

Understanding the connection between project success and decisions that need to be made is crucial for ensuring the project stays on track and is aligned with business goals.

4. Integrate plans, people and processes

Most projects planning fail to integrate the strategic and operational plans. In the Opportunity Framing Workshop we develop a roadmap, map key stakeholders and create an action plan to handle the transition from the workshop planning into day to day.

Your opportunity framing workshop is not about creating a long task list; it’s about developing a roadmap with clearly identified decisions that need to be made:

What are the milestones? What decisions need to be made at each stage of the project? Focus on these critical points and make sure your team is clear on who needs to make the decisions and when.

Virtual Tip: When running virtual workshops, use tools like Miro, Mural or Butter to create interactive online boards that allow everyone to collaborate in real time. This keeps the energy high and ensures that remote participants are just as engaged as those in the room.

5. Keep It Short and Focused

Here’s the beauty of opportunity framing—it doesn’t drag on for weeks or months like traditional planning processes. It’s a condensed, intense process that usually lasts 1-2 days. The idea is to focus on high-value discussions and decisions so that by the end of the session, you have a clear roadmap, an aligned team, and confidence that your project is on the right path.

The Virtual Advantage: Framing in the Digital World

In today’s increasingly remote work environment, the ability to conduct virtual Opportunity Framing Workshops is more important than ever. Virtual workshops can be just as effective as in-person sessions if run properly.

Here’s how to make your virtual framing workshop a success:

• Decide what activities can be done before or after the workshop to maximize your time together. For example, gather stakeholder input beforehand or have team members review relevant data ahead of time.
• Use interactive tools: Platforms like Miro or Butter allow participants to collaborate visually and dynamically, creating a seamless experience where all stakeholders feel engaged.
• Facilitator-led engagement: Virtual meetings can sometimes feel flat, so it’s crucial to have a skilled facilitator guiding the conversation, keeping energy levels up, and ensuring active participation.

Why You Need to Reach Out Now

If you’re serious about ensuring the success of your project, conducting an Opportunity Framing Workshop is the single most important step you can take at the outset. Don’t let your project fall into the common traps of misalignment, unclear objectives, or costly risks.

Contact me today to discuss how we can run an Opportunity Framing Workshop tailored to your project, whether in-person or virtual. I specialize in helping teams just like yours find clarity, align stakeholders, and create decision-driven roadmaps that lead to project success. Let’s make sure your next project starts with the clarity and direction it needs to succeed.

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