How Targeted Power Apps Coaching Accelerated Delivery for a MedTech Client
Many organisations adopt Microsoft Power Apps because it enables business users to build solutions without traditional software development expertise. However, while Power Apps is accessible, developing robust and maintainable business applications still requires good design decisions, sound architecture and practical development experience.
For one engineer within a large MedTech organisation, targeted Power Apps mentoring provided the support needed to turn a promising idea into a working application while developing the skills and confidence required for future projects.
“The one-to-one training with Dataworks was fantastic. Being self-taught, I had developed approaches that could easily have become bad habits. Dataworks helped put me on the right track and showed me the proper way to work with Power Apps. The training has already helped me get ahead on an upcoming project and has given me confidence that I’m approaching things correctly.”
The Challenge
Our client, an engineer within a large MedTech organisation, had identified an opportunity to improve a manual business process through digital transformation.
The existing process involved raising a database change request form, or DBM, every time users needed to add a device to an SQL table. Our client recognised that he could speed up this process by using a validated Power App to add or remove devices, eliminating the need to complete a database change request each time.
He had already built some simple Power Apps through self-learning but felt he needed to develop the skills and best practices required to build more complex, maintainable solutions.
His insight was on target. While Power Apps enables business users to develop solutions without traditional software development expertise, building reliable business applications still requires careful planning and good development practices.
Without that foundation, an approach that initially appears workable can quickly become inefficient, difficult to maintain or unable to support the full project requirements.
A Coaching Approach Built Around a Live Project
Dataworks provided 10 weekly one-to-one coaching sessions to bridge the gap between self-learning and practical project delivery.
Rather than delivering generic training, the coaching focused on digitising an existing business process. This allowed the engineer to learn new Power Apps skills while immediately applying them to a live project.
The weekly sessions started with gathering project requirements and progressed through application development, testing and project completion.
Each session combined progress on the application with practical guidance on Power Apps development standards and best practices.
Power Apps Coaching Week by Week
Week 1: Requirements
The first session focused on gathering and reviewing the application requirements.
This is a critical stage in any development project because early requirements shape the application’s design, structure and functionality.
For inexperienced developers, this is also where projects can begin to go wrong. They may choose an approach that appears workable initially but later becomes inefficient, difficult to maintain or unable to support the full requirements.
Week 2: Building the Foundation
The second session covered the best approach to starting a new Power App. This included creating a reusable template and connecting the required data sources.
Part of the session focused on identifying gaps in the engineer’s existing knowledge.
For example, our client requested guidance on transferring data between screens. This had been a particular pain point that caused previous applications to become unnecessarily complex.
He quickly understood the concept and was able to simplify the application design immediately.
Weeks 3 to 5: Application Development
By the third session, the project was already producing significant progress.
The application had several screens, including galleries used to view data from SQL and forms for submitting and editing data.
As the Power App continued to take shape, the engineer gained confidence and developed a stronger understanding of good Power Apps development standards.
Weeks 6 to 8: Enhanced Functionality
Over the next three sessions, the coaching introduced more complex concepts designed to improve the application’s user experience, styling and functionality.
Topics ranged from user-interface enhancements, including conditional formatting, to more advanced Power Apps concepts such as Patch functions, collections and iterative processing with ForAll.
Because these concepts were applied directly to the live application, the engineer could see immediately how each technique improved the solution.
Week 9: Testing and Debugging
By the ninth session, the application was complete and ready for testing.
Testing can be a difficult stage in application development because bugs may be hidden, intermittent or difficult to reproduce.
With expert guidance from Dataworks, the engineer learned practical testing and debugging techniques that could also be applied to future Power Apps projects.
Week 10: Final Functionality and Review
The final session covered Power Apps concepts and functionality that had not already been addressed during the project.
This included adding an Office 365 user search, implementing role-based authentication and designing an application that could scale dynamically across mobile, tablet and desktop devices.
The session also provided an opportunity to consolidate the learning developed throughout the ten-week programme.
Benefits for the Mentee and the Organisation
By the end of the mentoring programme, our client had delivered an application that addressed a real business problem while developing the skills needed to tackle future projects more independently.
Accelerated Project Delivery
By eliminating uncertainty and providing clear direction from the outset, the coaching helped the project move more smoothly and quickly towards its delivery goals.
Reduced Project Risk
Early mentoring helped identify and address potential issues and common mistakes before they became embedded in the solution.
This reduced the risk of the application becoming overly complex or difficult to maintain.
Adoption of Best Practices
The engagement replaced inefficient development habits with proven Power Apps practices.
This supported a higher-quality solution and created a more sustainable approach to future application development.
Increased Confidence and Capability
The engineer gained confidence in his ability to design, build and maintain Power Apps solutions.
He also developed a stronger understanding of how to approach application architecture, requirements, testing and user access.
Faster Return on Learning
The knowledge gained through mentoring was applied immediately to a live business initiative.
This shortened the learning curve and allowed the organisation to receive practical value from the programme while the training was still underway.
Stronger Long-Term Adoption
Mentoring provides a scalable way to develop internal digital capability.
It can help organisations increase Power Apps adoption, improve solution quality and maximise the value of their Microsoft technology investments.
Turning Power Apps Learning into Business Results
One-to-one mentoring and coaching can deliver benefits that extend beyond traditional training.
By applying each lesson to a live project, organisations can support faster project delivery, reduce development risk and build lasting confidence within their teams.
For businesses looking to expand their use of Power Apps, mentoring at the beginning of a project can help employees move from simply learning the technology to successfully delivering working business solutions.
Could Power Apps Mentoring Support Your Next Project?
Dataworks provides practical Power Apps mentoring and coaching for employees who are developing real business applications.
Whether your team needs support defining requirements, structuring an application, solving development problems or progressing a project towards completion, our specialists can provide guidance at each stage.
