Why were Modern Approvals introduced for Project Operations?
Problem Definition: Time entry approvals usually used to be an issue while approving when they were bulk in number. When the Project Managers (PM) used to approve more than 100-to-200-time entries, a lot of them used to get stuck in the queue and there used to be a rigorous process to go back and check which time entries are approved and which are still pending to be approved even after approving all of them. Solution: Microsoft has introduced Modern Approvals for such issues and so has introduced it for Project Operations. The way it works is, first we need to enable it on the Project Operations environment. PN: once enabled, cannot be disabled. Then we need to set threshold. This threshold decides the number of time entries to be approved synchronously. The prescribed Threshold from Microsoft is 5. Now when the project managers approve a set of time entries, let’s say for e.g., 100-time entries they are all put in an approval set and are tried to approve again and again until all the time entries are approved successfully. Below is where you can check the project related approval sets. Nevertheless, there can be some instances where there are failures in approving the time entries. These failures logs are also maintained in the approval set logs. When the time entries are approved, and the approval set record is created, it is in the active state and can be viewed in the active approval set’s view over the project. As soon as all the time entries in the approval set are approved, the state of these approval sets become inactive and can be viewed in the inactive approval set’s view over the project. Conclusion: Modern approvals have turned out to be a boon for the project managers when it comes to this tedious process of time entry approvals and can now trust the system that all the time entries will be approved successfully.
Project Task opening issue resolved by Microsoft in Dynamics 365 Project Operations
We often used to face issues while opening the Project Tasks in Project Operations (PO). We had to play a lot of tricks in order to open the schedule. Microsoft is consistently putting in efforts on making Project Operations, one of its successful tools to enrich it with tons of brilliant features and make it more user friendly. One of the major feature resolutions provided in the latest release provided by Microsoft was for opening the Project Tasks (Schedule) Seamlessly. Of course there are certain tweaks to be made in order to make it work in your browser. In this blog we will look at those tweaks and settings that would be needed to enable that feature.
Upgrade to Dynamics 365 Project Operations from Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation
Some exciting news for the users who are planning to upgrade from Dynamics 365 Project Service Automation (PSA) to Dynamics 365 Project Operations (PO). Its been a long awaited news Dynamics community and PSA/PO fans are waiting for. Well Microsoft has pulled up the curtain on how the release will happen. First news before we look in to how the upgrade will work is that it will work for Dynamics 365 Project Operations Lite Deployment customers only. It will be released with 2021 release wave 2. The release will happen in 3 stages: Stage 1: December 2021 Microsoft is targeting the customers that do not have any dependencies on WBS Structure or any of the related entities to WBS. Stage 2: In April wave, Microsoft intends to support the customers who have less than 500 tasks in WBS Stage 3: Post April wave, customers who have bigger projects or more than 500 tasks will be taken up. Conclusion: Transformation has begun and is soon going to be available. Customers can slowly start to migrate based on where they actually stand with the project size and needs.
Quick Tip: How to apply non-working hours from Calendar Template in PSA / Project Operations
Problem Definition: It is generally thought by Project Operations / PSA (PO/PSA) users that the non-working hour cannot be copied via 1 Template resource to another resource when the Calendar Template is assigned. It is only assumed that the working shifts and the weekends marked are the only ones that gets copied. But that is not the case. There is a minor catch in how we do it. Following tip will help you make the non-working hours copy when a Calendar template is applied to a resource that contains a template resource which has the non-Working hours in the Work hours. Solution: Perform the following steps to get to the required solution mentioned in the Problem Definition. Step 1: Add a non-working hour in the template of the resource by following the screenshots below: Step 2: Click on the Template Resource and add a non-working hour as shown below in the Screenshot. Step 3: Select the Date range that you want to mark as non-working days. Mark them as all day. In my case, I have selected 12-July as the non-working day. The Calendar gets marked with a non-working day as shown below. Step 4: Navigate to the Calendar Template again and Remove the Calendar Tempalte Resource and Save the Calendar Template as shown in the below screenshot. Step 5: Re-add the same Calendar Template Resource again and Save the Template. Step 6: Navigate to the Resource entity and select the resources whom you want to apply the Calendar Template and apply as shown in the below screenshot. Step 7: Final step to validate if the resource which was applied with the Calendar Template is having those non-working hours as the Calendar Template resource had. This blog reflects my personal findings and based solely on my experience of using PSA/PO for last 4 years. For those who are looking for a platform that can track and manage the entire procedures of sales and project managements, I would highly recommend them to try Microsoft dynamics 365 for project service automation. This helps in keeping all the ONLY ACTIVE projects in the view and the ones that needs our action and attention.
How to create a milestone in Project Operations
Problem Definition: We always wanted a way in which we could create a milestone in the project WBS. Milestones are the way in which we can mark the task by stating that it’s a deliverable task. How can we achieve this functionality in Project Operations? Solution: Please follow the steps to mark the task as milestone in Project Operations (PO) P4W. Step 1: Open your PO environment and navigate to Projects à Tasks Tab Step 2: Add a task by and name, in this case I have added the task by the name “Milestone task 1”. Step 3: Make following columns visible “Effort”, “Start” and “Finish”. Step 3: Make the effort to 0 and ensure the Start and Finish Dates are same. This will ensure your task is made as a milestone. Step 4: Now navigate to the Timeline view and you can check whether the task is created as a milestone task or not. If the Timeline shows a diamond icon, that means it is a milestone task that is created.
How to enable new URS Board (Schedule Board) in Project Operations
The new schedule board in Project Operations is much more powerful than before. Its performance is far more superior than the previous version of schedule board, in a way that: Loading the schedule board is much faster than before Tab switching is faster Dragging and dropping the work orders is much improved Rescheduling the bookings is much improved Well, before we get into the new features of the URS (Which I will cover in my next blog), I would like to inform you guys about how to enable the new URS board in your Project Operations environment. PN: The new URS at the moment is in preview mode and will be in GA in OCT’ 2021. Please follow the steps to enable the new URS Board: Open the app in the designer mode as shown in the image below: When the App Designer is opened, click on the Site Map as shown below: On the right pane of the Site Map Settings, update the URL to “/main.aspx?pagetype=entitylist&etn=msdyn_scheduleboardsetting” as shown in the image below: Open the Project Service App now and navigate to Schedule Board, you will see a toggle button to open the new URS Board. You are now ready to play around with the new URS Board. PN: The above blog is w.r.t the best of the information tried and tested by myself. In case of any issues or discrepancies, do not hesitate to write back to me on kgupta@d365feeds.com