What’s so special about translation project management?
The project manager is the unsung hero of the translation and localization process. Let’s take a look at why quality management is a vital component of a successful translation project management and translation agency .
Project managers come to the forefront in translation and localization companies since these professionals are not just responsible for building relationships with clients but also are the vital link that connects all the parties involved in the translation process. This includes sales managers, translators, editors, proofreaders, quality assurance specialists, IT specialists, and managers from the client’s side.
The translation project managers are pretty autonomous: they communicate with clients themselves, negotiates deadlines and prices, select the team for the translation project, solve technical, organizational, and personnel problems.
There are different approaches and views on the role of the translation project manager.
- A manager should understand the translation work. Otherwise, it would not be easy to assess the translators’ competence and assemble a strong team to provide a top-quality translation.
- There is also an alternative view that a professional project manager should effectively manage any team in any field. It is believed that the main thing in project management is people management. This means that if a project manager can organize the work process in one industry, they will be able to do it in the other one as well.
If you prefer the first approach, a translation project manager should have experience as a translator or editor. Still, if you choose the second approach, the job can be done by anyone with team management experience.
There are pitfalls in each of these approaches. A project manager organizes various work processes and communicates with the translation team, clients, and vendors. Therefore, a project manager needs to be able to manage the work process so that it meets deadlines and keeps everyone involved happy. In other words, a good project manager should have developed soft skills and a problem-solving attitude. Not every translator or editor has these skills.
At the same time, it is impossible to be an effective project manager without understanding the translation workflow and peculiarities of the profession. There are a lot of specific nuances in every industry. If a project manager is not familiar with these nuances, it will be challenging to do a translation project management job well. Inexperienced managers will face different obstacles, while the manager with some translation experience plans ahead.
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