In the current era, translation has been growing its service to any aspect that involves multiple languages and fields to help every party or institution reach their goal in grabbing broader scope of business or services. To deal with the higher volume of translation jobs that require high translation quality, every translation agency should be able to make use of any available sources that will make any scale of projects more manageable and attainable.
Every translation company or agency, in any level of service, has its own style of project management which often employs one or more translation management tools to ensure on-time deliverability of the projects in a related time period. However, the tool alone means nothing without the man behind the desk who operates this tool. In other words, the role of a project manager is still irreplaceable since automated computer program is incapable of dealing with other variables or exceptions that often occur during the task’s period.
The translation project management involves several processes from preparation to the post-project evaluation. Each process is on a list of events that goes in line with the time. Often a translation project only has a very limited time that does not meet the feasibility requirement. Therefore, the role of the leader and team is very significant to associate with the problem and to generate a solution in order to achieve the target completion time.
Project preparation: The preparation often begins when the project manager receives early information from the client about the order details, volume, and scope of the projects. The project mapping is the most crucial early stage to calculate exactly how the project will be executed. This stage will include defining the contents and characteristics, budgeting, considering the resources, and establishing a timeline.
While the project manager has been successful in determining and recognizing the character of the materials, resourcing is the second important part. In this case, the leader should consider the client-specific request according to the human resources that they want. The resource should possess a specific skill that is in line with the requirement and of course the budget. The consideration should conclude a complete list of a project team in which total members are determined by requirement.
Project Execution: The project execution should start with all considerations that have been made in the preparation. When the scope of the source materials has been decided before, the project manager should determine the other variables like the file format. This should make the project manager determine the use of a specific tool for translation and management or a tool that is able to handle both. This tool will be used to unpack and repack them back after the translation.
Next, the project planning for the internal team would help the team to stick to the deliverability of the project. To make sure, make an internal meeting to provide clear instruction with a complete schedule and timeline. Make sure that all team members understand the client’s requirements and expectations. During this stage, the project manager should also consider resource and budget allocation so that all can be caught and covered.
During the project, client communication is very important to give them update and informing progress. Every communication should be put on record for the purpose of project documentation. Communication should be maintained until the project is delivered. The project delivery usually uses a file in = file out, which means that the file number and format should be similar.
After the delivery, the client might need a translation post evaluation or post-project evaluation (PPE). Documentation is important in this phase so that the team can make revisions accurately according to the client’s request.
