Frame the Work, Work the Frame
Converting expertise into flagship workshops
Hello again!
In my previous email I've made the case that workshops are not the only way to productize your services.
But they are where you should start.
While this makes sense, it is not enough to know what do next.
How can you take your expertise, full of intricacies and nuance and convert it into a workshop format that clients instantly get and ask for?
The simplest way of thinking about this is this:
first, you Frame the work
then, you Work the frame
Frame the Work
When you provide services (or "do the work"), this happens in a continuum. Unlike selling toasters where each step, from manufacturing to printing a receipt, is clear and definitive.
To productize services, you must first draw a line around some of them. You don't begin by productizing your entire operation (this would be impossible, especially at this stage).
Or, in other words, you Frame the Work.
Like an award-winning photographer that increases a picture's intensity by selecting what remains in view and what is left out, you will need to do this with your work process.
Naturally, what you leave inside the frame makes all the difference in the world.
(…) frame your work around what is most distinctive and special about it.
This is a potent editorial decision, of course.
Keep reading for some examples:
Do you offer highly-technical data-privacy consulting services?
Perhaps focus on the steps of your service that let that shine through by…… giving a quick assessment of client's situation or
… connect industry trends with implementation scenarios of those trends or
… show how you approach specific challenges around data-privacy.
Is your firm proud of its unparalleled access to precious talent that clients are eager to learn from?
You can organise your workshop around creating moments where clients can interact with your experts in a collaborative way such as…… drafting initial problem statements together or
… have a joint idea generation session or
… evaluate feasibility of client's backlog of ideas and internal projects.
Is your point of pride the speed at which your agency delivers results?
Maybe you could design workshops that create momentum and reinforce the swiftness of your team with…… Planning Meetings where timelines are drafted together or
… work sessions that solve a specific part of the process in 2 hours instead of 2 weeks or
… process improvement sprints where you show your clients how to move faster).
The point is, you should frame your work around what is most distinctive and special about it.
And then, you Work that frame.
Work the Frame
With your work cropped in the best possible light, you can now start to shape what you kept in the picture.
This is where the actual translation of Expertise takes place. But you cannot start with Working the Frame, because you need the clarity and focus of having previously selected the parts of your process most ripe for productization.
Working the frame is all about three things:
You select one specific Problem to Solve (that fits within the slice of process you have selected to productize)
You create a Guided Experience where the client and you go through steps to solve that problem
You define a Tangible Outcome for that guided experience.
There's a wealth of content about Workshop Design and Facilitation. Most of it, though, is aimed at what happens "in the workshop" (e.g. how to run a specific exercise). Some of it addresses what needs to take place "before the workshop" (e.g. how to prepare for multi-day workshop) and almost nothing addresses the "after the workshop" phase (e.g. making sure clients adopt what is created during the workshop).
And this is why the Tangible Outcome is key for the success of your productization.
The Tangible Outcome is the link to the rest of your services
The Tangible Outcome is the interface between your workshop and the parts of your work that are not yet productized. Nail everything else and drop the ball on this and you deflate the entire thing.
The good news is that this is very easy to fix.
What's cooking
If you want to have a workshop format ready before November starts, hit me up
If you're an agency or consulting firm aiming to productize and create your first workshop formats, I'm creating something for you.
I've been gathering feedback on it and improving it non-stop.
If you want to have a workshop format ready before November starts, hit me up
Poll(ie) is back, of course
Looking at your process right now, what step would make the most sense to turn into a workshop? Let me know in the comments below ;)