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The Top Ten Timeline Killers

Nothing will take your translation project off track faster than these preparation, communication and expectation issues

Nothing is more frustrating than a translation project that, in the beginning, seems to be a simple and straightforward process, but turns into a lengthy project that stretches out beyond deadlines. Although the issues that can cause your translation projects to go awry are typically related to a lack of proper up-front planning and good communication, sometimes it’s all about anticipating technical issues and properly setting expectations, since these can also make the difference between a project delivered on time and one that is delayed. Watch for these Timeline Killers as they try to wriggle their way into your projects, because noticing them before they cause a problem can go a long way toward stopping them in their tracks and getting the right translation you need, when you need it.

A good Language Service Provider (LSP) will work with you from the beginning of a project to help keep the translation and review process on track. They’ll watch for these and other factors that will ruin a project timeline. But you should be watchful of these issues as well, so you can help keep your project on track at your end. Plus, once you know what these are, you’re half way to being able to consistently avoid them.

1) Unclear expectations of client or Language Service Provider and lack of clarity around roles
From the very beginning of your project, your team and the LSP team need to be clear about the roles and responsibilities of team members. Both organizations should be clear as to those responsible for things such as desktop publishing, reviewers, and responsibility for project deliverables. It would be a frustrating and costly situation indeed if both teams were working with two different deadlines, or if neither team worked on desktop publishing because they thought the other was working on it! The LSP team can write-up a project plan with your team’s input so that deadline expectations are clear, as are the various roles in the translation and review process.

2) Unrealistic timelines based on project scope and complexity
As mentioned, sometimes a job looks like it will be short and simple on the surface, but the subject matter might turn out to be quite difficult. This can especially apply to marketing projects or documents with sensitive content where the extra step of cultural adaptation is needed. Cultural adaptation is when linguists adjust the meaning of a translation to allow for subtle nuances of culture so that it’s more meaningful to a target audience. If you’re not sure of the content of a document you’re translating into English, run it by your LSP team and ask whether or not the material will need extra attention.

For projects that your team knows are complicated, the right questions still need to be asked before the translation starts. The scope of a project can quickly grow out of control if your team does not take into account the translation of text in graphics, for example, or if your team does not factor in time to evaluate and localize specific cultural references.

3) Inadequate preparation by LSP or client when the material is sent for translation
Preparation before a translation can encompass anything from finding qualified linguists to work on the material, to thinking about the document’s or Web site’s tone and final purpose – and communicating this message to the LSP team. Good preparation also means that your team has found out which languages or dialects of those languages are needed for the target audience. A significant amount of time can be lost in retranslating or editing if the wrong language is chosen for the target market, for example. If a translation team has to revise a completely translated project from French for Europe to French for Canada, you can bet that there will be a couple of extra days added to the schedule that you didn’t plan for.

4) Project is not started early enough on both sides
If the LSP team or client waits to start a project because they think beforehand it will be quick and easy, they could be in for some unpleasant surprises regarding deadlines. The LSP team should always secure translation teams and start processing the documents to be translated as quickly as possible after getting confirmation to proceed from your team. On the other hand, your team can help speed the process along by providing source files and image files promptly when asked, giving the LSP team immediate and regular updates to changes in content or timeline, and securing in-house or community reviewers as far ahead of time as possible.

5) No time allowed for client review and making related corrections
Remember to allow enough time in your project to send the material through at least one round of reviewer comments and corrections by the LSP translation team and the desktop publishing team, if needed. It’s essential that your reviewers know when the material is coming to them and that they know when they should send it back to you with their comments. The in-house or community review should be one of the first decisions that you and your LSP team make – even before the project begins.

6) Holidays and vacation times not factored into schedule
The winter months often bring much more vacation and holiday time for your team, your reviewer team, and the LSP team. Don’t forget to look ahead to when you’ll need the involvement of specific people in the project and make sure they’ll be available. Keep in mind that many LSP translation teams are living in the country of the target language and their holiday schedules are often vastly different than those in the U.S. Your LSP team should let you know of any schedule conflicts due to holidays as soon as the project starts. This is all part of the second phase of good translation project methodology: proper project planning and set-up.

7) Missing files and fonts in material sent to LSP team
If your project involves desktop publishing, be sure that all files and fonts are sent to your LSP team. For example, if your material is in the form of a pdf, check to see if you also have a source file from the pdf – such as Word or InDesign – that can also be sent to the LSP team. It’s sometimes easier to extract the text to translate from the source document instead of from the pdf file. When you send all required fonts and images for the final product, the DTP goes much smoother and the proper formatting of the new language is as close to the original as possible. An easy way to send all the needed files is by compressing them into a zipped file or a stuffed file. Don’t forget to create clear and properly labeled folders and files within that compressed file so that there’s no confusion about which files are which. Finally, if the compressed file is too large to be emailed, ask your LSP team for easy access to their ftp site or their file sharing program.

8) Not anticipating potential issues
Some projects need a couple of early conference calls and discussion between your team and the LSP team. This is a time when both teams can discuss the project and the LSP team can ask any questions about the translation. Your LSP team usually has years of translation experience, so potential issues usually jump out at them after they evaluate the project. At this time they can tell you about any corrupt files they’ve noticed, any questions they have about words to leave in the source language, or any terminology clarifications.

9) File format pitfalls
File format problems can arise when a reviewer needs to read and comment on a file that will be used for a website, for example. If the LSP team is working on a localization project involving XML files, it might not be very easy for the reviewer to comment and change these files if they’re not an expert in Web files. It might be easier for the reviewer to work with another file format such as Word. In that case, figuring in a little time to convert the files to and from that format would be a good idea.

10) Inadequate translation memory or glossaries
In an extremely technical or complicated document, there may be terms that need to be defined or clarified before the translation begins. These terms might be quite familiar to your company or organization, but an LSP team might need some time to ask your team about these beforehand. It would be even better if a glossary or translation memory could be started in the project planning and set-up phase in order to take full advantage of current and future translations. If past translations have generated translation memory, that information is also entered into the translation memory system.

Summary

Putting some serious thought into a project’s scope, and ensuring that it’s properly set up in the beginning will create a good foundation for a project that is effective and hits all of your deadlines. Your LSP project manager should be willing to work with you to set up a solid – and realistic – project plan and help you iron-out potential pitfalls from the start. Translation projects involve a lot of variables: documents, files, translators, time zones, and even language communication issues. Therefore, proper preparation and thinking ahead can help your team achieve the best translation and smoothest process possible.


	viaLanguage Translation Articles The Top Ten Timeline Killers Nothing will take your translation project off track faster than these preparation, communication and expectation issues Nothing is more frustrating than a translation project that, in the beginning, seems to be a simple and straightforward process, but turns into a lengthy project that stretches out beyond deadlines. Although the issues that can cause your translation projects to go awry are typically related to a lack of proper up-front planning and good communication, sometimes it’s all about anticipating technical issues and properly setting expectations, since these can also make the difference between a project delivered on time and one that is delayed. Watch for these Timeline Killers as they try to wriggle their way into your projects, because noticing them before they cause a problem can go a long way toward stopping them in their tracks and getting the right translation you need, when you need it. A good Language Service Provider (LSP) will work with you from the beginning of a project to help keep the translation and review process on track. They’ll watch for these and other factors that will ruin a project timeline. But you should be watchful of these issues as well, so you can help keep your project on track at your end. Plus, once you know what these are, you’re half way to being able to consistently avoid them. 1) Unclear expectations of client or Language Service Provider and lack of clarity around roles From the very beginning of your project, your team and the LSP team need to be clear about the roles and responsibilities of team members. Both organizations should be clear as to those responsible for things such as desktop publishing, reviewers, and responsibility for project deliverables. It would be a frustrating and costly situation indeed if both teams were working with two different deadlines, or if neither team worked on desktop publishing because they thought the other was working on it! The LSP team can write-up a project plan with your team’s input so that deadline expectations are clear, as are the various roles in the translation and review process. 2) Unrealistic timelines based on project scope and complexity As mentioned, sometimes a job looks like it will be short and simple on the surface, but the subject matter might turn out to be quite difficult. This can especially apply to marketing projects or documents with sensitive content where the extra step of cultural adaptation is needed. Cultural adaptation is when linguists adjust the meaning of a translation to allow for subtle nuances of culture so that it’s more meaningful to a target audience. If you’re not sure of the content of a document you’re translating into English, run it by your LSP team and ask whether or not the material will need extra attention. For projects that your team knows are complicated, the right questions still need to be asked before the translation starts. The scope of a project can quickly grow out of control if your team does not take into account the translation of text in graphics, for example, or if your team does not factor in time to evaluate and localize specific cultural references. 3) Inadequate preparation by LSP or client when the material is sent for translation Preparation before a translation can encompass anything from finding qualified linguists to work on the material, to thinking about the document’s or Web site’s tone and final purpose – and communicating this message to the LSP team. Good preparation also means that your team has found out which languages or dialects of those languages are needed for the target audience. A significant amount of time can be lost in retranslating or editing if the wrong language is chosen for the target market, for example. If a translation team has to revise a completely translated project from French for Europe to French for Canada, you can bet that there will be a couple of extra days added to the schedule that you didn’t plan for. 4) Project is not started early enough on both sides If the LSP team or client waits to start a project because they think beforehand it will be quick and easy, they could be in for some unpleasant surprises regarding deadlines. The LSP team should always secure translation teams and start processing the documents to be translated as quickly as possible after getting confirmation to proceed from your team. On the other hand, your team can help speed the process along by providing source files and image files promptly when asked, giving the LSP team immediate and regular updates to changes in content or timeline, and securing in-house or community reviewers as far ahead of time as possible. 5) No time allowed for client review and making related corrections Remember to allow enough time in your project to send the material through at least one round of reviewer comments and corrections by the LSP translation team and the desktop publishing team, if needed. It’s essential that your reviewers know when the material is coming to them and that they know when they should send it back to you with their comments. The in-house or community review should be one of the first decisions that you and your LSP team make – even before the project begins. 6) Holidays and vacation times not factored into schedule The winter months often bring much more vacation and holiday time for your team, your reviewer team, and the LSP team. Don’t forget to look ahead to when you’ll need the involvement of specific people in the project and make sure they’ll be available. Keep in mind that many LSP translation teams are living in the country of the target language and their holiday schedules are often vastly different than those in the U.S. Your LSP team should let you know of any schedule conflicts due to holidays as soon as the project starts. This is all part of the second phase of good translation project methodology: proper project planning and set-up. 7) Missing files and fonts in material sent to LSP team If your project involves desktop publishing, be sure that all files and fonts are sent to your LSP team. For example, if your material is in the form of a pdf, check to see if you also have a source file from the pdf – such as Word or InDesign – that can also be sent to the LSP team. It’s sometimes easier to extract the text to translate from the source document instead of from the pdf file. When you send all required fonts and images for the final product, the DTP goes much smoother and the proper formatting of the new language is as close to the original as possible. An easy way to send all the needed files is by compressing them into a zipped file or a stuffed file. Don’t forget to create clear and properly labeled folders and files within that compressed file so that there’s no confusion about which files are which. Finally, if the compressed file is too large to be emailed, ask your LSP team for easy access to their ftp site or their file sharing program. 8) Not anticipating potential issues Some projects need a couple of early conference calls and discussion between your team and the LSP team. This is a time when both teams can discuss the project and the LSP team can ask any questions about the translation. Your LSP team usually has years of translation experience, so potential issues usually jump out at them after they evaluate the project. At this time they can tell you about any corrupt files they’ve noticed, any questions they have about words to leave in the source language, or any terminology clarifications. 9) File format pitfalls File format problems can arise when a reviewer needs to read and comment on a file that will be used for a website, for example. If the LSP team is working on a localization project involving XML files, it might not be very easy for the reviewer to comment and change these files if they’re not an expert in Web files. It might be easier for the reviewer to work with another file format such as Word. In that case, figuring in a little time to convert the files to and from that format would be a good idea. 10) Inadequate translation memory or glossaries In an extremely technical or complicated document, there may be terms that need to be defined or clarified before the translation begins. These terms might be quite familiar to your company or organization, but an LSP team might need some time to ask your team about these beforehand. It would be even better if a glossary or translation memory could be started in the project planning and set-up phase in order to take full advantage of current and future translations. If past translations have generated translation memory, that information is also entered into the translation memory system. Summary Putting some serious thought into a project’s scope, and ensuring that it’s properly set up in the beginning will create a good foundation for a project that is effective and hits all of your deadlines. Your LSP project manager should be willing to work with you to set up a solid – and realistic – project plan and help you iron-out potential pitfalls from the start. Translation projects involve a lot of variables: documents, files, translators, time zones, and even language communication issues. Therefore, proper preparation and thinking ahead can help your team achieve the best translation and smoothest process possible.