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February 16, 2021 | Uncategorized

A Good Project Manager Ensures Quality Translations

One of the biggest factors in the successful completion of your translation project is a highly organized and efficient project manager. Translation and localization tasks need to respect deadlines and costs to stay within budget. Any delays, errors, or miscommunication can lead to wasted time that generates expenses your project manager can help you to avoid.

It’s very easy to underestimate the complexity of translation and localization projects. But even the simplest jobs often require the input of developers and DTP professionals to ensure translators can extract the text to begin their jobs or convert images and files to the right format.

Your project manager is the glue that holds every element of your translation project together. He or she will be responsible for all communications between your company and the individuals working on your project. That’s a huge job that involves collecting content, checking it for consistency and tone, and making sure that nothing is missing before the work gets started.

And that’s only the beginning. Your project manager is responsible for ensuring the team sticks to deadlines, provides the translated content in a timely manner, requests any edits or changes, and keeps you updated on the progress. When you have the right project manager overseeing the whole process and coordinating the team, the workflow is maintained and high standards of quality are met.

Your project manager will also be able to identify any problems and find creative solutions for them before they become an issue. He or she can also make recommendations that help reduce your work and speed up future projects, such as creating a Translation Memory, Glossary of Terms, or internationalizing your website.

Your Project Manager Keeps Everything on Track

When you start your translation or localization project with us, you will be assigned a project manager who will welcome you onboard and accessorize you with the information we need to get started. Your project manager will be able to allocate the right individuals to your job, decide on which solutions to use to optimize workflow, and be your point of contact from start to finish.

Without a project manager taking the reins, your translation project could quickly become chaotic. Texts, images, files, and other assets that need to remain in one place would likely be lost, causing delays, misunderstandings, and bad quality translations in return.

When you work with an experienced project manager, they will be able to help you understand what is needed and when – and remind you when your input and feedback are important. It’s essential that you listen when your project manager requests your approval or asks a question. Otherwise, you could risk causing a delay yourself and missing the completion date of your project.

The most successful translation projects are always those in which the client collaborates with the team and is quick to sign off approvals or send over additional tasks. Just one missed milestone can quickly cause a chain reaction and affect the work of your translators, proofreaders, DTP professionals, and developers. So it’s vital that everyone is on the same page. Your project manager will keep everything on track to ensure this doesn’t happen.

From the initial planning stages to the final proofing and testing, your project manager understands how to best organize the work to ensure high quality on time and within budget.

Your PM Understands the Needs of a Global Audience 

Poper localization is certainly no easy task. In fact, it takes trained, talented professionals to be able to take your original message and brand story and tone and convert it into an equally engaging product for users in a new market.

While your project manager won’t be able to write the content for you, they will be able to select the right individuals to ensure the best tone of voice for your brand in different languages. They can also advise on certain best practices in your original text, such as avoiding humor and idioms, and images with text, in order to ensure a smoother localization process.

If you start your original content with translation in mind, it will be easier for teams of different linguists to convey the message without error in the way you intended to have the best possible impact on new markets. 

With a project manager in charge who understands the needs of global audiences, everyone involved in your project will work cohesively. Translators, transcreationists, localization experts, designers, and developers will have all the information and material they need to best deliver your brand’s voice and key messages in different languages.

He or She Coordinates Multinational Teams

Any translation project involves working with multilingual and multicultural teams across different time zones. This is an added element of complexity when it comes to meeting deadlines and communicating the desired result.

You need a project manager who is used to working with people from different cultures and has the emotional intelligence to understand how to get the best results. He or she will also have a good working knowledge of the programming and development work that goes into the project as well as the platforms that all team members use to deliver the content.

Thanks to these excellent communication and organizational skills, your project manager will ensure that everyone is working in synch despite the differences in time zones and be able to find the right time to coordinate meetings where necessary and monitor individual progress and tasks.

Your project manager ensures that everything is measurable and that you are kept up to date on all progress on a regular basis. This allows you to organize your marketing activities accordingly and hit the ground running when you enter a new market.

Your Project Manager Saves Important Resources

At Clear Words Translations, we always aim to work with our clients for the long term, which is why we ensure that our project managers are experienced, organized, efficient, and polite. We also work hard to ensure that your translation project saves you time and cost the more you work with us. 

In order to make future translations easier, your project manager will save important resources from your first project that can help speed up the next one. This may include and an accurate glossary, a style guide, SEO keywords, and image assets. 

When you localize for several countries, saving resources like this can help you cut costs, deliver quality content, and reach new markets more quickly. 

Clear Words Translations Is Hiring

With the continued growth of the translation industry and the ability to work online, Clear Words Translations is expanding our talented team of project managers. If you are highly organized, culturally intelligent, have outstanding communication and organizational skills, and previous experience in the translation and localization industry (or related industries), we want to hear from you!

Simply send your resume along with a cover letter, with your name and the position – Project Manager – in the subject line to careers@clearwordstranslations.com. We’ll be in touch if we think you’re a good fit who can help us go from strength to strength and keep exceeding our clients’ expectations this year.