As global business competition intensifies, localization has become increasingly important for enterprises worldwide. It involves adapting products, services, or content to specific regions, meeting the needs and expectations of local markets.

The role and methodology of localization project management are crucial. The PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) offers standardized best practices, guidelines, workflows, and terminology for effective project management in localization.

The latest PMBOK edition, the 7th, provides invaluable insights into this specialized project management approach. Let’s explore how it supports enterprise success.

PMBOK Localization Project Management: Key Areas of Focus

Project Planning and Execution

PMBOK localization project management provides a comprehensive framework for planning and executing projects. Through detailed techniques and tools—such as resource allocation, scheduling, risk management, and quality assurance—companies can efficiently carry out localization tasks and ensure timely delivery.

Communication and Stakeholder Management

Effective communication and stakeholder management are critical components of this methodology. Localization projects typically involve multiple stakeholders, including local teams and partners. PMBOK emphasizes collaboration and understanding, which are essential for achieving project goals.

Change Management

Localization projects often face changes in requirements or market conditions. PMBOK stresses the importance of a change control process, enabling companies to respond flexibly to changes while maintaining stability and control.

Resource Management

By adhering to PMBOK principles, businesses can streamline their localization management process and ensure effective collaboration with resources. This framework provides structured guidance on supplier selection, contract management, communication strategies, and quality control, all vital to successful project execution.

Cost Management

PMBOK localization project management offers valuable methods for managing costs. Through detailed budgets and cost plans, companies can better control expenses related to translation and personnel training, ensuring cost-effective project implementation.

Quality Management

Quality is a key determinant of success in localization. PMBOK provides quality management methods that help ensure project delivery meets standards and customer requirements. Strict quality processes enhance customer satisfaction and market reputation.

Risk Management

Risk management is a cornerstone of effective localization project management. This methodology emphasizes identifying, evaluating, and responding to potential risks, helping companies navigate cultural and regulatory complexities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, PMBOK localization project management offers a robust framework for managing projects effectively. By integrating PMBOK principles with localization strategies, businesses can improve planning, execution, and risk management. Ultimately, this approach enables companies to meet local market needs and achieve global success.

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As a localization project manager, we are no strangers to this question. The simple answer is no. Although we understand that time is precious and a quick turnaround is one of the main goals of a client, we do not recommend rushing localization projects. There are certain aspects a client should look at beyond simply translation, such as the project scope and process, quality assurance steps, productivity, and other determining factors.

– Disclaimer: the discussion of this blog is based on translations completed by professional and 100% human linguists utilizing CAT tools. Any form of machine translation does not apply to this.

An Overview of Translation Project Processes

We have always come across this question: I have a document that’s about 10,000 words, can you deliver it by the end of business today? There has always been a misconception or assumption that translation agencies can turn around any project (large or small) overnight. Depending on the scope of a project, there are processes and elements which determine the turnaround time, as what a translation agency does is more than merely translating words, there are other tasks involved.

Depending on the project type, such as website, document, audio/video, or software translation, and the subject matter, there are different requirements and processes before and after the translation phase. Preliminary engineering (before translation) and final engineering (after translation) efforts are always needed for all projects, to prepare the files for translation, as the translation teams don’t work directly in the native file format.  The process of preliminary engineering, prepares the native client files in a format that is compatible for use with CAT (computer-assisted translation) tools, enabling the translator to utilize translation memory (TM) to ensure consistency and quality. You may refer to the below links for more references about translation steps for different translation projects:

• Document Translation Process
• Website Localization Process
• Software Localization Process
• Audio/Video Localization Process

Quality Assurance (QA) Steps

Apart from translation, there are  QA steps that language teams perform after translation to ensure the translation is accurate and complete. Once the translation is finalized, it will go through final engineering, which includes importing the translations into the TM and preparing the files for the next phase, which may include desktop publishing or online QA for web and software projects. Once any of these steps are completed, the files go through QA completed by the linguist. They will ensure that all the translations are displayed completely and correctly in the final format. This is an important step that any legitimate translation agency will perform and an important differentiation between professional translation agencies and freelancers as freelancers may not be able to perform all the steps required.

For example, if you have menus that need translation into Arabic, French, and Simplified Chinese, after the language teams perform translation and the desktop publishing is done, the translation teams will review the translated versions of the menus, to spot corrupted characters, alignment issues, improper word breaks, missing lines, etc. If there are any errors, the linguist will report the error and the fix and these will be implemented. Before the project manager delivers the final products to the client, the team will perform another review to ensure all changes have been made.

All of these processes and steps are scheduled and coordinated by the project manager based on the productivity and efforts required.

Productivities and Efforts

Speaking of productivity, timelines are largely dependent on the productivity of the production team and of course the volume and requirements of the client. Take a website localization project for example, the turnaround time is mainly based on the following calculations:

1. The word count of the material to be translated will determine the time needed for the translation team to complete as well as the QA hours required Online QA. This can vary based on the type of content, marketing content which requires transcreation and technical content can have a lower productivity rate based on the work involved.
2. The file type and workflow will determine the time and effort needed by the Engineering team to import/export content, prepare files for translation, etc. If an automated workflow is pre-defined, the turnaround time can be significantly shortened and the efficiency of the project is improved by reducing manual import and export of files thus reducing the risk of mistakes associated with manual import/exports.

GPI is experienced with automated solutions for website localization by creating customized connectors for different content management systems. You may see more details here: GPI’s Translation Connectors Library

Apart from the above, there are other factors that can affect a project’s turnaround time. If the client is translating a highly technical document, e.g., an operational manual with detailed figures, or a medical report with complicated formulas,  it is recommended not to rush the translation, as it might result in errors and thus risk the quality of the translation. Also, if you are translating an industry-specific website, it is also recommended to allow the team time to research the subject matter, ask questions, and create a specific glossary for the content, before proceeding with the translation.

Therefore, what can a client expect or do when requesting a translation project to help accelerate the process?

1. Communicate clear project requirements with your project manager, and provide finalized files) and reference materials if needed.
2. Avoid submitting revisions to content during the translation process. Not only will this drive up costs, it will increase production time. It is best to wait to send the final versions of the content.
3. If you have translations in your planner or pipeline, it is recommended to communicate your editorial calendar with your project manager so they can allocate resources and discuss schedules in preparation for your projects. One client had planned press releases that they knew in advance they would need in a specific timeframe. They contacted us about when the content would be ready and when it would be needed. We organized the translation team and had them ready for the content and we were able to meet their aggressive deadline.

To sum up, a translation project is not simply a translation task, it is a series of tasks that need to be completed according to the industry’s best practices which includes quality assurance before delivery of the final product. The turnaround time of a project is determined by its volume, subject matter, and the project type. Therefore, it is through the communication and collaboration of the client and project management team to set clear project scopes, priorities, and advance notices when feasible in order to plan a successful and efficient translation project.

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With the advent of digital transformation and globalization, companies have many opportunities to engage with customers from all corners of the globe. However, in order to succeed in the global marketplace, it is essential to speak your customers’ languages. This is why we need localization. And when localization is combined with an agile methodology, it can be beneficial for businesses looking to unlock new horizons.

What Is Localization and Why Do Businesses Need It?

Localization is the process of adapting a product, service, or content to suit the local language, local preferences, and cultural nuances of a specific target market. While textual translation is a significant aspect of localization, it goes beyond word-for-word conversion. That is to say, localization involves comprehensive changes and adjustments that are specific to the local audience, cultural norms, calendars, currencies, images, etc.

By localizing products and content, businesses will be able to build trust and rapport in local markets and create a seamless user experience for their customers globally. This process can be complex and expensive for many small companies. However, adopting an agile approach to localization can be a game-changer.

The Agile Methodology in Localization

Agile methodologies are popular in the software development industry. It emphasizes iterative and incremental progress in small sprints. The core principles of agile include flexibility, adaptability, and a focus on customer collaboration. These principles can be adapted to the localization process to maximize efficiency and minimize time and cost.

1. Continuous Iteration

Instead of waiting until a product or content is fully developed to start the localization process, an agile approach promotes incremental localization by breaking projects into smaller batches. In this way, businesses can initiate localization efforts early and release localized versions with the development team. Not only can this shorten a product’s time-to-market, but also enables ongoing improvements based on feedback from localized markets.

2. Collaboration and Communication

The heart of agile methodologies is frequent communication and collaboration amongst agile teams. In the localization project management office, this means involving translators, localization specialists, localization engineers, and subject matter experts from the target markets in the development process. Through regular, open discussions and feedback, businesses can gain valuable insight into the local preferences and cultural expectations of their audience.

3. Data-Driven Decision Making

Agile localization applies data to make decisions. By analyzing performance metrics and customer feedback from localized products, businesses can gain valuable insights to continuously optimize their approach. Data-driven decisions ensure that localization efforts are accurate and aligned with customer expectations.

4. Automation and Technology

Incorporating automation tools and technology is also an important aspect of agile localization. Utilizing translation memory systems, content management platforms, and other localization technologies can streamline the process, increase consistency, and reduce human errors. Agile teams can leverage these tools to automate repetitive tasks, allowing the focus to remain on creative and value-added activities.

5. Face Changes

Agile techniques embrace change and encourage adaptability since they are normal parts of the process. This also works in localization, where consumer expectations, cultural trends, and market demands are always changing. For long-term success, it is crucial to adjust localized materials and products based on client feedback and market dynamics.

Conclusion

Localization is no longer an add-on for businesses expanding to global markets; it is a must for a company’s global success. Adopting an agile approach to localization empowers businesses to be more responsive, customer-focused, and adaptable in the ever-changing global landscape. By fostering collaboration, embracing change, and leveraging technology, businesses can effectively navigate language and cultural barriers

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Project management is a fundamental task in any translation project as it determines the success of a project. The translation project manager oversees the whole lifecycle of a project from quoting, budgeting, scoping, scheduling, planning, and managing to project delivery.

As a translation project manager, you face a dynamic role requiring a range of skills, including communication, budgeting, planning, and risk management. In this blog, I’ll delve into essential translation project management best practices for mastering these aspects.

Communications

A translation project always involves at least 2 languages and, in most cases, multiple languages. Since we are in the globalization era, it’s always common to deal with clients/teams from different time zones, cultures, and backgrounds.

This will require the project manager to be able to communicate the project scope and deliverables with the different teams clearly and much of the time, manage multiple layers of communication. Whether it is a call with your client in France, an email with instructions to your language leads in China, or internal communications with your team in the US, smooth and fast communications are key.

Budgeting and Planning 

The project manager should be able to quickly devise a project plan based on the requirements, languages, deadlines, etc., and schedule each step with related stakeholders to ensure a timely and successful delivery. This includes several important steps:

1. Budgeting

The project budget will be a determining factor for every aspect of the project so it will be important to prepare an accurate budget at the very beginning of the project and strictly carry it out through the whole process.

2. Resourcing and Scheduling

Once the budget is defined, the project manager then can start to scope and assemble the team to execute the project. Linguists, engineers, desktop publishers, QA testers, etc., whether in-house or outsourced, the project manager must take into consideration the volume of the project, availability, and capacity of the team members, and then set up the schedules and coordinate accordingly.

One important thing to consider is the timeline and time zone differences among the members. The project manager will need to be aware of these small details to avoid missing the window of communication with the various team members, especially on projects with tight deadlines.

Monitoring and Risk Management

During the project, the project manager will also need to keep an eye on the status and progress to ensure a smooth process and be prepared for any surprising incidents. There’s a power outage in the desktop publisher’s area, the language lead calls in sick, or just simply a file was missed during the preparation stage, etc., any of which are exceptions, but it can happen and cause stress.

Watching the project closely can help address such issues at the onset (as well, when possible, adding some buffer to your schedule) and thus minimize the impact they can cause to the overall project.

Apart from the potential risks such as missed deadlines and unforeseen file issues, the project manager must also be concerned about the quality of the final deliverables. During the project cycle, including the QA (Quality Assurance) process to maintain quality is a crucial component.

The project manager must ensure that each quality assurance check is performed, and the project does not move to the next step until the project passes that specific QA checkpoint.

Another useful way to mitigate risk is to be prepared, predict risks, and have a backup plan for when such issues happen. Such experience and insight can be accumulated from previous projects and also learned from peers.

Therefore, maintaining a post-project evaluation (PPE) for each project is crucial, as it enables a project manager to document any project issues in a timely manner and can be circulated among the teams to discuss how it may have happened, what could have possibly been done to avoid it, and brainstorm for improvements and solutions for any future occurrences.

Conclusion:

In summary, there are many aspects that a project manager oversees during the translation project lifecycle which are impossible to cover in one article. These seemingly tiny details may seem inconsequential and go unnoticed by an inexperienced project manager, but as the adage says, “failure to plan is planning to fail.”

Therefore, understanding the importance and correctly applying best practices can help ensure the smooth execution and success of a translation project. One of the key practices is communication, which can help increase efficiency, ensure a healthy process, and handle misunderstandings or errors in a controllable manner.

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It has been said before – translation is an art, not a direct conversion. Depending on the type of translation (i.e., marketing, technical, social media, etc.) and the target region/audience; the style and tone of the translation can be different in each language because of cultural nuances. Additionally, the client could have specific guidelines they would like to follow. Would they prefer a sophisticated tone or perhaps, a more factual style?

Prior to beginning a translation with a new client, we encourage meetings to discuss glossary and style guide development, legacy translations, and client review. These steps facilitate the translation process, ensuring the translations meet the client’s expectations. But shouldn’t the translator be able to do that without client input? Of course, but again, we go back to translation as an art. There are many ways to say the same thing, and while the translator is a cultural, genre, and topic expert, the client may have a certain style or verbiage they prefer and that they use on a regular basis.

Glossary Development

This step involves identifying key terms in the material to be translated and providing a translation of these terms. Should legacy translations exist, those would be referenced and incorporated into the glossary.

Once the glossary has been translated, it is then sent to the client for review. This allows the client to have their team review the terms and update them to be in line with what is used within the company. If the sales team prefers a specific term, we want to be sure the glossary term is consistent with the language of the company.

In the event that the client does not have a bilingual team that can review the glossary, they can have the peace of mind that industry-standard terms have been applied.

Style Development

Translators are bound to translate content accurately to the source. For more creative copy, such as a website or a marketing campaign, a straight translation is not always the best option. By discussing with the client what the style options are for a language and the material to be translated, we can have a better understanding of what the client would like, and we can inform the client how that will best translate for the target audience and the clients return on investment (ROI).

It may be practical at this stage, especially for large projects, to complete sample translations and present to the client for review. This gives the client a preview of how different teams would translate the material and enable them to select the style they would prefer.

Legacy Translations

If the client has had translations done previously and is happy with them, we can use them as a reference for upcoming translations. If the client was not happy with them, we can review them and learn what the client was not pleased with, and we can improve upon that.

Client Translation Review

This usually occurs once the translation is complete, meaning translated, edited, and proofread by several linguists. For our process, we generally provide the client with a PDF version of their file to review and make comments. Client translation review is not editing or rewriting the translations, it is a review of the translation by the client to update terms and phrases that the client uses. If a glossary or style guide was not completed at project start, this is another way to provide this information, for small projects at least. For large projects, it will save time and money to develop the glossary and style guide prior to the translation being completed.

Once the review is complete, the marked-up file is returned to us and reviewed by our translation team. The purpose of this extra level of review is to make sure typographical or grammatical errors have not been introduced and to verify that the requested changes do not alter the meaning of the original copy. If any changes deviate from the original text, our project manager will contact the client’s project lead to explain the changes and ask the client if they approve or reject the change.

All revisions are captured in the translation memory for future projects and the final versions of the files are updated and delivered to the client.

If during the client translation review, the reviewer is not satisfied with the translation, we will request a meeting to go over what the concerns are. This meeting may include the language lead to open a dialog between the translation team and the client to determine what the issues are and how best to resolve them.

Why is this all necessary? Because translation is an art, and there are multiple ways to communicate the same concept. Additionally, companies have their own dialect in their communications and with their customers. That knowledge is only achieved with feedback from the client.

Conclusion

If you’re currently looking for a language service provider, ask them about their review process; will you have the opportunity to review the translation and provide feedback? If the answer is no, keep looking. The items mentioned here are just a few tested procedures used to produce the highest-quality translations. Investing in a quality translation provider is money well spent, as they are communicating your brand to other demographics, and first impressions are crucial.

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To evaluate the quality and productivity of translation and localization companies need an objective approach to keep up with the industry standards and metrics. A standard is a required or agreed level of quality while a metric is a system of measurement that shows that a service or a product complies with an agreed level of quality. In this blog, I’m going to share with you the standards and metrics used in Translation Quality Management.

Translation and Localization Quality Standard

ISO 17100

ISO 17100:2015 details the requirements for the fundamental processes, resources, and other criteria necessary for the delivery of a quality translation service that meets established standards. Application of ISO 17100:2015 provides the means that a translation service provider (TSP) can demonstrate the conformity of translation services to ISO 17100:2015. A company that is ISO certified has adopted the universal best practices established and has been reviewed and certified that it follows these standards. This certification should provide a buyer of translation services the assurance that the TSP is committed to delivering a translation service that will meet the client’s specifications.

ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001 defines the objectives of the Quality Management System (QMS) and its policies, and requirements related to documentation control, purchasing, working with subcontractors, human resources, internal quality audits, handling non-conformities, and other internal operations. By selecting an ISO 9001-certified company, you can be assured that the company is dedicated to its quality system and is serious about quality.

ISO 18587:2017

This is a relatively new, translation-industry-specific standard that deals with Post-Editing Machine Translation (PEMT). The standard provides requirements for the process of full, human post-editing of machine translation output and post-editor competencies, and it makes PEMT more acceptable and mainstream.

ISO 13485:2016

ISO 13485:2016 is a standard that’s specific to the medical industry, including medical devices and related services.  It specifies requirements for a quality management process that asks a medical company to provide medical devices and services that consistently meet applicable regulatory requirements.

Linguistic Quality Assurance (LQA)

Linguistic Quality Assurance (LQA) is indispensable for collecting objective feedback and examining translation quality, at any given point in time.

Traditional LQA metrics, such as the LISA QA model and SAE J2450 mainly focused on technical accuracies such as terminology, mistranslations, omissions, and additions. TAUS’ DQF-MQM Error Typology still applies the best parts of the existing metrics and expands its categories and adds metrics, including fluency, style, and severity.

The LISA QA Model

The LISA QA Model, was created by the Localization Industry Standards Association (LISA), has been used as a metric to assess translation quality and count errors to determine whether the target content meets the requirements. The Lisa QA Model v3.1, introduced in the 1990s, which was an error rating model. LISA QA rates an error according to its severity and the corresponding weight, including minor, major, and critical with points of 1, 5, and 10 respectively for each error type. The model records both linguistic and technical errors. Utilizing the LISA QA Model assists to ensure the consistency of terminology and content.

MQM (Multidimensional Quality Metrics)

MQM is a flexible system providing translation assessment metrics compared to the models above. It can be used to evaluate the source content which also affects the quality of the final translation based on quality enablement. Besides, the MQM QA model can evaluate not only human translation but also machine translation.

MQM includes over 100 issue types. For the top level, there are eight major categories/branches: Accuracy, Fluency, Terminology, Locale convention, Style, Verity, Design, and Internationalization.  It’s also extensible and allows companies to customize their preferred categories based on the content types and subject matters.

The MQM-DQF Harmonized Metric

SAE J2450 is a statistical tool that automakers use to grade document translation quality according to seven error types, including the wrong term, syntactic error, omission, word structure or agreement error, misspelling, punctuation error, and miscellaneous error. The purpose of SAE J2450 was to create a consistent standard to evaluate the quality of automotive service information translations. This metric can be applied to either human translation or machine translation.

Conclusion

Currently, most of the CAT tools and TMS tend to integrate with a QA model or QA functions which helps language service providers deliver projects at a full scale with compliance to ISO 17100:2015. For example, when the reviewers find issues or errors, they will be asked to select the issue category and severity level with their comments. The final report will be generated based on the issue type and severity which allows the LPMs to check the translation quality and seek improvement plans. Therefore, translation and localization professionals should understand the LQA standards, LQA metrics, and how they are applied and work to ensure the best translation and localization practices.

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When it comes to expanding your business into international markets, studies show that 72.4% of consumers are more likely to engage with a business when information is presented in their native language. This makes localization a crucial tool and a smart investment. In addition to strengthening your brand, localizing your material will foster your clients’ trust and pique the interest of potential clients.

Each company will have its own specific needs depending on the market it belongs to, its audience, and the type of material they want to localize among other things. For each of these different scenarios, there’s a type of localization project with its own workflow and scope. It’s the responsibility of the project managers (PM) to choose the one that best suits the client’s needs.

This blog aims to describe and define the role of a project manager on website localization projects.

Website Translation Basics

To understand the role of the PM in website localization projects, we should start by defining it. In a nutshell, website localization is the process of adapting a website to the culture and language of users in a target market to provide the most useful and relevant experience for them.

Website Localization at GPI

If you’ve decided to localize your website, we at GPI will help you get started on this and take your firm to another level.

GPI has experienced and specialized professionals, from project managers to developers and localization engineers, that will guarantee that your website is displayed in your desired target languages with culturally relevant, relatable, and accessible content.

GPI offers custom WCMS (web content management system) Connectors to a variety of web content management systems in order to streamline localization workflows and access to translation project information across your enterprise. Enterprise-grade connector plugins are easily installed and uninstalled with a few clicks, and they are tested and supported for FREE as part of our website translation services. The benefit is that your team continues to work with the system they are familiar with, and we establish a best practice to work with your CMS to make creating and maintaining a multilingual website seamless.

To learn more about our Website Localization services, please visit our Plugin and Connectors page.

The Role of the Project Manager

Before the Project Starts

Clear Communication with the Client: Scope

The PM takes ownership of a client’s request from the very beginning, even before it becomes a project. The PM is in constant communication with the client from the very first day. They communicate to learn the client’s expectations and even guide them through the localization process based on their needs. The PM is in charge of ensuring the project scope is clearly defined, and that everything is ready to start when the client decides to give them the green light.

Some of the issues to clarify prior to project start are:

• How will the content be extracted from the website? Is it going to be through one of our connectors, will GPI do a manual crawling of the client website, or will the client provide all the files?
• If we have access to the client’s site, do they want us to publish the translated content on our end or should we deliver them the translated files and they’ll import them?
• In any of the scenarios, will the client want GPI to perform a QA of the site once everything is published?
• If the client is to provide feedback, how will they send it?

Workflow Definition

Once the above and any other necessary points are clear, the project manager needs to ensure that the chosen workflow meets the client’s expectations.

All the phases of the project, together with their corresponding deadlines, should be defined before launching it. Failure to complete this will jeopardize the outcome of the project in terms of quality, timeline, and budget.

Project Kick-off

Addressing Accurate Resources

Once the client’s requirements are clear and the workflow has been defined accordingly, it’s time to assign the specialized linguistic team. This will include a translator, editor, and proofreader; and depending on the size of the project and the deadlines, may include more than one translator.

The Project Manager will consider the field of expertise required for the project and subject matter and assign subject-matter experts (SME) for the translation team. Choosing a resource that has experience doing Online QA, for example, is crucial for website localization projects.

During The Project Lifecycle

Once the green light has been given to start the project, the PM will proceed to launch it.

They’ll provide the designated linguistic teams with all the necessary information to start the project, including reference materials, glossaries, style guides, the translation memory, and credentials for Online QA of website projects.

All necessary information about the subject matter, deadlines, and scope also needs to be clearly stated in this step.

Proactive Communication with Different Stakeholders

One of the PM’s biggest responsibilities is to ensure effective communication among the different stakeholders during the Website Localization Project’s lifetime. This includes:

• Clients: Provide updates to clients, receive updated requests, and to answer any queries or concerns they may have.
• External resources: Manage language teams to solve any problems they may have, and to provide training for new tools/processes.
• Internal resources: Assign tasks to the corresponding person/department for any internal processes to ensure that the project follows the schedule, and to discuss any challenges and how to address them.

File Delivery

Once the files have gone through all the necessary steps as planned in the initial workflow, the PM will review them to ensure that all the Quality Control (QC) processes have been applied, double-check that all the tasks have been completed without issues, and proceed to deliver them to the client.

Quality Evaluation

Project Managers need to ensure any linguistic feedback/comments received from clients are taken into consideration. Receiving feedback from the client from time to time is normal and it helps our linguistic teams learn the client’s preferences. However, it’s the PM’s responsibility to make sure the quality of the final product is not compromised, even if it requires changing teams.

That’s why at GPI we encourage kick-off calls with our clients to learn about their technical and linguistic expectations. We also suggest that our client’s reviewers meet our linguists to discuss any linguistic-related topic to avoid any re-work later on, which will not only affect the schedule but also impact the budget.

Post Project Evaluation

This step will cover both the evaluation of the project itself (the language team, management, communication, and other components), as well as the results of the project. We always strive to improve, and a critical assessment of the project allows us to determine how to better help our clients.

Team Performance Evaluation

During this step, the PM will evaluate the internal processes performed by GPI, from quotation and workflow definition to clear and efficient communication with all team members. The PM will also evaluate the ability the team showed to tackle any challenging scenario it may have occurred during the project’s lifetime. Depending on the dynamic of the team/company, this can be assessed daily or weekly through internal team meetings.

Recognizing potential issues before they come up is a crucial skill a project manager must have. Checkpoints during a project’s lifespan, in addition to post-project reviews, will greatly aid in identifying and averting potential risks.

Conclusion

Being a Project Manager is as challenging as it is rewarding. Every website localization project will have its complexity and it is the PM’s responsibility to ensure that the outcome is the desired one. It’s important to take into consideration that, as mentioned throughout the whole blog, the PM must be present in each and every step of the project lifecycle.

At GPI, we have a team of professional and experienced project managers that ensure high-quality website localization based on the client’s needs. The PM’s define personalized workflows for each client and project and provides clients with dedicated access to GPI’s proprietary Translation Portal for a better experience.

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To achieve the success of your localization program, what factors do you think will be most important? I raised the question to many of my localization friends at an industry party. Some said it’s vital to implement a comprehensive and advanced TMS (Translation Management System) and CMS (Content Management System); some said the localization team must have the acumen of the latest localization technology such as neural machine translation, and an agile way to run a localization team that smoothly connects the internationalization and globalization.

There is no unifying answer to that question; but with all the insights, everyone agreed that having a well-organized vendor management system is significant to the success of the localization program. In this blog, I will share with you the vendor management lifecycle that can help your localization team to outsource vendors, from identifying the business (localization) needs to vendor relationship building.

Localization Needs Identification

Before starting a Vendor Management system, it is important to determine what industries you are targeting with your sales and marketing, and the languages that are in demand for those industries.

Identifying your localization needs consists of noting your localization problems, goals, scenarios, and the related improvement plans to resolve them. Here are some tips for you to identify your localization needs:

1. Define your localization goals

Assessing business goals and objectives will make it easier to understand the full picture of potential inefficiencies in the localization process and having a clear business objective will help identify business requirements and plan a strategy to move forward.

2. Analyze market data and localization workflows

After setting up goals, think about the strategies needed to achieve them. Collect and analyze localization data and then strategize to find solutions and make evidence-based decisions by tracking important information.

3. Communicate with your localization team and write an SOW (statement of work)

Once data is viewed and analyzed, you will communicate your findings with team members and write down your proposal or statement of work. Please make sure that stakeholders are on the same page and have access to the data.

Vendor Selection, Testing, and Maintenance

After having a clear localization strategy, the next step is to find and select the best resources that suit your accounts, programs, and products. You will need to identify and screen the vendors’ resumes/profiles and update their profiles regularly.

1. Know the kind of vendors you need: a freelancer or a language service provider or do you want a combination of both?

2. Define the duration of the collaboration: short-term or long-term?

3. Categorize the resources you have in your vendor pool: here are some examples to look for.

– Language pairs

– Qualifications: certificates and degrees

– Skills and expertise: CAT tools, SEM, SEA, SEO Keyword Research, transcreation, copywriting, legal certification, etc.

– Years of experience: I recommend at least 5 years of experience in translation/localization

– Verification of vendors’ resumes

– ISO 17100 certified

– Professional bodies (associations, registers, etc.)

– Vendor’s websites

– Testimonials or references

4. Sample Test

A sample test might help you evaluate the vendor’s basic skills and capability. Ensure that you have a standard test sample that you can send to candidates and it’s also important to update the test regularly. A point to consider, if you are targeting a specialized market (such as technical or medical), it is a good idea to have a test custom to that market. To evaluate the translation quality, you must have standard LQA metrics.

5. Update your Vendor Information Regularly

Your vendor database needs regular maintenance just like any other database. Remember to send an email or a message to your vendors at least once a year to verify that their data is up to date. Sometimes the vendor may add new language pairs, services, subject matters, qualifications, and new tools.

Vendor Onboarding

Now that you’ve chosen the localization vendors needed for your program, the next step is to get them onboard. There are a lot of things to consider before a new vendor starts to handle your first project. You may want to start with a kick-off call if your vendor is a Language Service Provider (LSP) but it’s unrealistic to have calls with every vendor if you have a multilingual freelancing team.

Working with New Vendors

So, it’s important to send a kick-off note to your new vendor teams with the project types and requirements, including style guides and other client preferences. Other factors may include the language pairs, tone of voice, word count/volume, priorities, schedules and deadline, and other referential materials needed, such as query form and glossary. Besides, you may also consider if the vendors are familiar with the tools and technologies you plan to apply to your projects. If not, technical training sessions will be required. Other factors that you may consider during vendor onboarding include identifying the risks, thinking about the backup plans and coverage for holidays and time-offs, volume forecasting, and linguistic quality controls.

Vendor Performance Management

Many companies use KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to track their suppliers’ performance. KPIs are the critical indicators of progress toward an intended result, and they provide a focus for strategic and operational improvement, create an analytical basis for decision making and help focus attention on what matters most (KPI.org). Here are some metrics that you can start with:

– Percentage of on-time deliveries

– Number of linguistic or technical quality errors

– Average throughput rate

– Pass/fail rate for sample projects

– Technical ability (ability to handle technical issues and learn new tools)

– Finance: invoice correctness and timeliness of invoicing.

You may want to collect your vendor localization performance data. With more and more valid data being recorded, you can develop and establish your quality management system.

Vendor Relationship Management

“Vendor relationship management is a process that enables your company to control costs, mitigate risks, and improve service.” To build a good short-term or long-term relationship with your vendors, here are the things you can do:

– Establish a vendor management system

– Be transparent in communication

– Learn about your vendors business and operations

– Set up and record KPIs, goals, and objectives in actual projects

– Build a partnership and create a win-win situation

Conclusion

Vendor management in the localization industry is the process of identifying your business objectives, selecting, testing, and onboarding your vendors, as well as managing your vendor performance and relationship. Data can be applied in vetting vendors and analyzing vendor KPIs. Vendor managers or project/program managers should not only be aware of the whole vendor management cycle but also note that we should treat vendors as human beings instead data or numbers in the metrics.

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Does this sound familiar? Your company is planning to expand globally and you are now incharge of getting the company website translated. You’re the HR manager, and a large segment of the workforce in a new division are not native English speakers; you need to provide your HR materials in their native language to improve employee relations and performance.

Where do you start? What do you need to do? How will you afford it?

Easy they say, use online translation or ask your bilingual co-worker to do it.
Your best answer? If your company is not as large as Google, Amazon, or Netflix which have dedicated in-house translation teams, hire a Localization Project Manager, your subject matter expert in all things localization.

What is a Localization PM? The person who knows what questions to ask to determine the full scope of your language needs, plans the best process to achieve your organization’s language goals, and facilitates the process regardless of the communication channel.

Common reason why some companies choose DIY – Budget

As it is with everything, budget is the key factor in what and how things get done. Translation is no different. As a result, a company will look to internal resources or online translation tools for their translation needs. Here are some reasons why partnering with a Localization PM can save you money (and your sanity).

DIY Options

Online Translation Tools

We have all seen the option to translate online, and it works – to a point. While machine translation is making great strides, it is not the ideal solution for many types of materials such as marketing. You still need a professional translator to edit the translation. Some websites use Google translate as an option for global users. While it will convey the message of the site, if your goal is to attract global clients, it will be obvious that the translations were not professionally done and may detract from your efforts.

According to a 2020 CSA Research Survey of almost 9,000 consumers in 29 Countries, 76% of those surveyed prefer purchasing products with information in their own language. That is a lot of potential customers that you want to make a great first impression of.

In-House Resources

The biggest factor here is time. Your bilingual coworker already has a full-time job. Adding translations to their to-do list may cause schedule delays in the translations you need because it is not their priority. Additionally, do you want an engineer translating marketing material or your marketing person translating technical material? Probably not the best fit.

However, your internal resources can be a valuable asset during the translation process. Your Localization PM can coordinate with them to review translations (often referred to as an in-country review) to get invaluable feedback on the terms your company uses daily.

Hiring translators yourself

Of course, you can hire a translator from a variety of online resources, however, how will you know if they are qualified aside from the fact they say they are? How will you verify that the translations are accurate? Does it matter if your translator is a native speaker of the target language? Yes. Does it matter where they live? Yes. Oh, and did you know there are imposter translators? They hijack a translator’s profile, and they get paid, but you do not get your translation.

By working with a Localization PM at a language service provider (LSP), the hard work in identifying and qualifying translators has already been done. Additionally, your PM will assign the right translator for the type of project, handle all the communications, clearly explain the directives, and if the translator has any questions about the material they are working on, the PM will communicate with you to determine the best course of action.

Why a Localization Project Manager makes sense

The bottom line is, a localization project manager is an expert in the how, what, and whys of translation – let them be your language expert and have them manage the process allowing you to focus on your job. They know all the questions to ask you and your team and will determine how they can best support your language efforts now and in the future.

While translation is often an after-thought, thinking about translation at the start of an initiative can save you money. The translation of software and websites is more involved than just the translation of the text. A Localization PM can guide your team through the process which in the end, will help save time and money.

A good translation provider will assign your company a dedicated project manager (Primary Point of Contact – POC). This will provide all members of your organization with a dedicated point of contact who will be knowledgeable about all the translation work your company is doing. Most of the clients I have worked with preferred a dedicated PM as it streamlined the communication channel, and they felt the quality of service was better.

Your PM will manage the process, the schedule, the translation team(s), in-country review, field questions, and every facet of the project they will handle. There are a lot of moving parts and your Localization PM will manage them allowing you to focus on your job.

Additionally, your PM will manage the tools (translation memories) that will maintain consistency through all translations, but also, will help save your company money during future translations and updates.

Conclusion

The fact of the matter is, providing your information or product in different languages is not as simple as just translating the copy. As we have moved to a digital world, the complexities in what needs to be translated and how information needs to be set up in order to display multilingual content have increased dramatically in the past 15 years.

Additionally, you need an expert who can guide you on the cultural differences that can impact your project. A dedicated Localization PM should be your partner and provide you and your organization the peace of mind that their multilingual projects are being managed by an expert.

At Globalization Partners International, you will have a dedicated Localization Project Manager that will be your organization’s point of contact (POC). Additionally, GPI has developed processes and tools that will streamline your translation project and can save you money on your translation expenditures, providing a better ROI than if you handled your translations through a DIY method.

Reference: CSA Research

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Website translation is a key factor for internationalizing a company, but it’s not a simple process. Working with a professional translation project management team well versed in the workflows and tools needed for translation success. The project management team will facilitate projects steps like scheduling briefings with your teams to identify your project needs, understanding the type and scope of the translation, identifying which CMS will be used and performing all necessary content revisions to ensure everything is correct.

In this blog, I will explain which website localization practices you should utilize following website translation project management standards.

Website Translation Project Management Tasks

Scheduling a Project Briefing

As in any marketing process, you need to determine the project objective. To identify your objectives, it’s advisable to create a detailed briefing and pose questions such as:

• Who are we targeting? We should know where our audience is located, which languages they speak and how many linguistic variants of those languages there are, if any.
• Which communicative style are we going to use? We need to determine if we already have a brand identity and how we’re going to translate it into the new language(s) following its tone and style, i.e. the brand voice.
• What are our goals? Are they the same in our home country as in the new one? Some products might not work or might have different audiences depending on the location.
• What type of website do we have? How big is it? Will we translate the entire site or only some pages? Which CMS will we use? Which search engine will we optimize the multilingual content for? These are some of the website-specific questions that will need to be answered.

Identifying your CMS Capabilities

The content management system (CMS) you use has a major impact on the technical part of translations. Some CMSs may already have an integrated section to translate content but often, you will need to use a translation connector tailored to your CMS to author and publish the localized content.

At GPI, we have a specialized development team who can easily deploy a custom connector between your CMS and our Translation Portal to export and import the translation into your CMS quickly and seamlessly. We can also process an array of files formats and make them compatible with your system that will streamline the localization workflow across your enterprise.

Determining Which Content to Translate

If your website has a lot of content, you may not have the budget to translate the entire site into multiple languages at once. As a Translation Project Manager, I would recommend doing the translations in phases.

Decide which languages you want prioritize and translate accordingly. Then plan to translate for additional locales as your time and budget allows.

Translating for Transcreating?

Transcreation is a creative translation aimed at generating an impact on the target audience. That’s why it’s focused on conveying the paragraph to paragraph meaning instead of sentence by sentence. Furthermore, the objective is to adapt content to the target market’s preferences.

Transcreation is also used for optimizing your website for search engines. Through SEO, you’ll develop a list of keywords and phrases from your website that will be localized to ensure they are effective in the target culture and will make it possible for people to find your site via search engines. A copywriter will then infuse the translated content with the localized keyword terms to optimize it for the local market’s search queries.

Revising Content in a Staging Environment

Once the translation is finished, it’s easy to overlook the important step of revising the content in context, i.e. in a staging environment.

At GPI, we follow a fully documented quality control process. We use checklists to audit the quality and ensure the translation and desktop publishing accuracy. We also offer the possibility to incorporating a client’s own quality assurance processes into our system.

In a nutshell, once the translated content is uploaded into the website and before it goes live, a professional translation team will ensure that the text isn’t out of place and that it’s aligned with the web design.

Performing a Usability Test

Go further when revising your website and think about the end-user experience. Although everything is in its place you should ask yourself: does it work?

On the internet, interaction makes the difference. That’s why it’s so important to check the small portions of text which are crucial in terms of interaction. For example: the newsletter subscription button, the button to perform a purchase, the tabs names, etc.

Summary

To summarize, working with a website translation project management team will ensure your translation project is conducted efficiently and effectively. Translating a website has many steps and factors to consider including scheduling a project brief, discussing the CMS capabilities, budgeting, and evaluating the usability. It’s important that each stage of the process is accounted for and handled seamlessly.

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