project management

Translation project management is the art of keeping lots of different pieces in motion at the same time. Stakeholders, third-party vendors, project deadlines and budgets all need to be kept in check while you ensure that your translations are delivered to the highest possible quality.

Can technology make translation project management easier? Yes. Absolutely.

Gone are the days when you were expected to keep track of all your translations in a spreadsheet. Technology has evolved to the point that you can use it to make your job easier, ensuring that you can produce translations on time and of the highest quality when you need them.

Let’s look at how technology can help you improve your translation project management processes.

Problem: Too Many Applications, Emails, Documents…

Translation project management is complex.

You need to keep lots of different plates spinning throughout the lifecycle of a project. You are constantly maintaining open communication with numerous stakeholders, managing different versions of translations from linguists and validators while also keeping on top of budgets and tracking deadlines.

It can be difficult to stay on top of where everyone is throughout the project workflow, and you need to keep switching in and out of your inbox and spreadsheets to make sure everything stays on track.

Solution: A Translation Management System (TMS)

A translation management system (TMS) will bring all of your stakeholders, file versions, notes and planning documents into one centralised location. With this software tool, you can stop hopping back and forth between applications and inboxes to minimise the risk of a loss of data and quality in your translations. Keep it simple by managing the entire project in one place.

Problem: Manual Processes

If one of your translation project stakeholders is a web manager or a product manager there is a very good chance that you will also be familiar with the tools that they use.

A web manger uses a Content Management System to keep the website updated. When creating multilingual versions of a site they will need to import translations quickly and easily. This is also the case with product and asset management software.

Importing translations can be a slow process when done manually and require a lot of oversight to ensure no errors are made in the process.

Solution: API & Custom Integrations

Luckily thanks to APIs and digital connectors within most modern content and assets management tools, this process can become fully automatic. Simply connect your application to a tech-enabled translation management tool and your translations can be imported directly from the translator to the page.

Problem: Translations Are Slow

Translating a document accurately into another language so that it retains its message but still resonates with other cultures is a skilled and time-consuming process. A linguistic expert needs to take time to make sure they choose the right words and phrases to match the cultural expectations of the target language. The job cannot be rushed if you want the quality of your translations to remain high. However, this can prove challenging with tight deadlines and a need to beat your competitors into multilingual markets.

Solution: Post-Edited Machine Translation

Machine translation has come a long way over the last few decades and is now a key tool for linguists to use in their translation process. Machine translation can translate large sections of text in moments and even use Translation Memories to accurately recall previously translated sections and automatically insert them into the content.

With post-editing by a human linguist to add their expertise and ensure that the translation is of the highest quality, machine translation can greatly speed up the entire workflow.

Problem: Maintaining Translation Consistency

When you work with lots of different stakeholders, including many different translators, it can be difficult to maintain a high level of quality. Words and phrases can be translated in lots of different ways and the final decision can be subjective. One vendor may choose a different term to your preference, and it can take a lot of time and effort to validate that everything is matching your corporate voice.

Solution: Termbase

A controlled Termbase will help with this. A Termbase is a set of the terms that you want for your translations. The Termbase will highlight which translation choices do not match your preferred terms added to the Termbase and make suggestions for the translator to use instead. This helps you maintain quality control over your multilingual content.

Problem: Data Risks

When contacting and working with vendors outside of your computer network you open yourself up to the risk of data loss. If you are translating documents that are highly sensitive, they could present a risk to your company when sent outside of your network. The same may be true for other sensitive data such as translation memories and your termbase. If your vendor’s, IT equipment is compromised you could be at considerable risk as well as breaching various data protection protocols.

Solution: Bring Your Vendors into Your System

Within a closed system protected by the highest level of information security protocols your vendors and your data are safely hidden away from any would-be data thieves.

In a secure translation management system that allows collaboration behind a security network you can be sure that you will be able to complete your project securely and limit the risk of any data loss.

LanguageWire Helps Bring Technology into Your Translation Project Management Process

Technology is quickly changing the way we live and work. We can leverage these technologies to aid our working life and free us up to focus on things that really matter. Whether you want to work more efficiently, quickly, cost effectively or securely on your translation projects we have a solution to help you.

This article was originally published by LanguageWire Company (Verity Hartley)

Project management in a translation agency is like the engine of a large train, helping the train to run at full steam but steadily. Project management consists of people, processes, software and technologies, which together make it possible to offer, receive, resource, translate and return translations to customers in the most sensible way possible. In addition, other project-related records, updates and background work are carried out, and there is contact with the customer, of course.

Project management staff—or “Translation Services Managers” as we like to call them at Delingua—are often the customer’s first and most familiar human point of contact at Delingua. They are also called project managers, but for us it is important to emphasise the word “service” because, for the customer, it is specifically a service profession and, in terms of the process, about project management.

Project management as a job

Anyone unfamiliar with the field might imagine that the job of a translation services manager is very simple. The customer is given a price and when the order arrives the file is sent to the translator. Then, the same text is returned to the customer. What’s so special about that? Well, that is how it goes more or less, and the translation of one page from Finnish to English isn’t such a strange thing to do.

However, professionals in the field know that when four one-page translation requests like this arrive within the space of fifteen minutes and each translation is more urgent than the one before (e.g. when it concerns a statutory disclosure for a listed company), things start to get really busy. Of course, at the same time, one translation services manager has several dozen other projects ongoing, many of which are in dozens of languages, some with additional services (such as layout or search engine optimization), and some are otherwise a little unclear. You have to make and follow offers, cope with a sales manager breathing down your neck, discuss with a colleague the checkbox in the last corner of a software submenu and its impact on translations, set up invoicing with a person in finance, answer calls and react to emails in near real time. What’s so special about that? A professional in the field might say that’s a normal day.

Project management in a translation agency requires continuous prioritisation, quick decision making, seamless teamwork, clarification and consulting. The work is done not only by computer but also by telephone. Sometimes, we might even run over to the customer’s premises to deliver papers in an envelope if that’s the smartest solution. There are great days and, of course, there are bad days too. Most of the time, the days are great. There are few jobs in which you learn and see so many different things.

The customer’s best friend

An experienced translation services manager is worth their weight in gold. They view customers and projects like an experienced doctor: they encounter everyone as an individual and respectfully, listen carefully but see very quickly or often know in advance what the issue is and what needs attention now in particular. The ability to tolerate pressure and multi-task are essential requirements in translation project management. Likewise, an interest in customers is one factor that makes you stand out from the crowd quickly. Attitude matters a lot. You don’t have to give your whole soul, but the desire to be part of the customer’s solution and not the problem helps greatly.

Software, technologies and processes are constantly developing, and even an old hand needs to learn more from time to time. It’s been more than a decade since my own years in project management and, unlike then, AI-based tools and integrations are now commonplace in project management. Technology both helps and makes work more complex. While the amount of manual work has decreased with automation, anticipation and problem solving are now emphasised even more. When speaking with customers, completely new types of service needs can come up and the translation services manager will be involved in their development. Of course, every translation services manager has their own area of expertise, such as special knowledge of software, which they can share with colleagues, but there’s also a lot to learn from others.

Do you see yourself as a translation services manager?

Few are born as a translation services manager, but many grow to become one. Those who started their studies or working life in the last millennium might have suddenly, almost mysteriously, found themselves in the project management profession instead of the translation profession. Today, this sort of job description is already more familiar, and you can get on board this moving train, for example, through training programmes or simply by contacting a translation agency. Everyone has to start somewhere, and it’s better to start safely under the guidance of experienced professionals. The only thing that is certain is no two days are ever alike!

project management

5 useful ways technology can optimise your translation project management workflow

What is project management in a translation agency?

project management

Problem: Too Many Applications, Emails, Documents…

Solution: A Translation Management System (TMS)

Problem: Manual Processes

Solution: API & Custom Integrations

Problem: Translations Are Slow

Solution: Post-Edited Machine Translation

Problem: Maintaining Translation Consistency

Solution: Termbase

Problem: Data Risks

Solution: Bring Your Vendors into Your System

LanguageWire Helps Bring Technology into Your Translation Project Management Process

Project management as a job

The customer’s best friend

Do you see yourself as a translation services manager?

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