Project Managers in the Translation Process
What is Project Management?
A translation Project Manager is in charge of supervising the overall organization of translation projects for their clients. The purpose of a translation Project Manager is to connect the client’s needs with the translators that are best suited for the project at hand. They have a number of duties required of them. They handle everything from multilingual translations for international use to managing quality control on large-scale translation projects.
The translation agency project manager is the primary person in charge of escalating issues for resolution as they occur during the project. Project management mainly requires coordination, collaboration, planning, and organizing techniques. They are an integral part of the translation process as any company or development requires someone to oversee it.
What Exactly Do Project Managers Do?
Essentially, project management in translation and localization projects calls for understanding requirements, creating a plan and coordinating resources to successfully deliver a polished project. The level of complexity and difficulty typically differs depending on the project.
As said before, a Project Manager has a number of tasks they must perform. These tasks include:
- Evaluating and analyzing the source documents in order to determine a number of elements involved.
- Outlining and creating a project plan for the other staff members involved in the translation.
- Keeping the client updated on the progress of their translation.
- Describing technical issues or industry lingo to the client.
- Making sure that the translations being delivered are complete and yields to original project terms.
These are all great ways for a translation company to maintain viable business relationships.
Why Project Management is Essential
It is important to note that there are numerous steps in the translation process where communication could potentially deteriorate or create errors. Professional project managers in translation companies have the ability to prevent these mistakes and problems from happening. The skill and experience of a project manager is vital to producing successful translations.
Sometimes, the Project Manager is considered a sort of “smoke detector” in that they recognize early signs of aspects that could greatly affect the budget or deadline of the project.
- Project management is a service that is highly important not only to the translation company, but to the client as well.
When a company is in the process of selecting a translation company, they should ask to meet their possible project manager. This essential staff member will be a main contact for a business from the beginning of the translation process until the end.