Winning the work is only the start. The people delivering it need to understand what has been agreed, what needs to happen next and who is responsible.
For one organisation using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, that connection needed attention. Sales information sat in Microsoft Dynamics, while parts of project planning, forecasting and the handover to finance relied on spreadsheets and manual steps.
The work brought those processes into view and translated them into a practical design for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales and Project Operations. The focus was the people moving the work forward: sales colleagues, project leads, operations teams and finance.
Start with the handover between people
A sales record does not tell a project team everything it needs to deliver. The team also needs a clear scope, dates, responsibilities and a way to see progress.
The assessment looked at where information changed hands, where it was entered again and where people needed to check another file or ask a colleague. It also recognised differences between teams, rather than assuming every part of the business followed the same process.
That gave the Microsoft Dynamics work a clear purpose: make the next step easier to understand and give the next person the information they need.
Connect the sale to the project
The documented design linked the sales opportunity with project information, delivery planning and the commercial agreement. A proof of concept set out how that flow could work in Microsoft Dynamics.
Project Operations provided the structure to work through project dates, resource needs, contract lines and billing milestones. The important question was how those records would support the agreed business process.
The work also considered when a sales opportunity should create project work. Creating a project too early, or for the wrong kind of opportunity, can add records without helping the delivery team.
Business understanding and hands-on Microsoft Dynamics work
Peter's role covered functional design and solution architecture alongside Microsoft Dynamics configuration and integration work. That meant connecting business requirements with the detail of how records, forms and flows should behave.
Business process and adoption responsibilities were shared with the customer's wider project team. Mason Pete's contribution sat alongside that work: translating what the business needed into a Microsoft Dynamics setup that could be reviewed and improved.
Keeping those responsibilities clear matters. A useful solution needs both a workable process and an application that supports it.
Make progress in clear stages
The project material separates the initial foundation from demonstrations, remaining issues and later improvements. Those stages should not be confused.
Further work included improving forecasts, document access and links between commercial and operational information. More extensive billing and finance capabilities belonged to later scope.
This approach makes the next decision easier: agree what the team needs first, test it against real work and give later improvements their own place in the plan.
Make the next person’s work easier
The useful starting point is the handover. Follow one piece of work from the sales conversation into planning and delivery. Ask what the next person needs, where that information comes from and what still has to be repeated.
That is where Mason Pete combines business, technical and commercial understanding: making the process clear, working through the Microsoft Dynamics details and helping the team decide what to change.
See how we work with your team or read what to consider before changing Microsoft Dynamics.