The ATA Chronicle - November/December 2017 - 12

FEATURE

BY NANCY MATIS

Scheduling Translation Projects
Once a project involves several people, tasks, languages, components,
or even competes with other projects, drawing a complete and accurate
schedule is definitely a must.

T

he challenge of project management
lies in the breadth of the subject
material involved and the wide
variety of translation requests it
encompasses. Every project is different,
every company (whether an end client
or a translation agency) has its own
management methods, and every project
participant has their own concerns
depending on the role they play. However,
one area where everyone needs to be on
the same page is scheduling.
When sending a translation project for
bidding or for immediate production,
clients either indicate a delivery date or
ask subcontractors to propose one. In
both cases, the latter have to schedule
their time to make sure they can meet
the deadline. The translators (or any
other project participants) then need to
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The ATA Chronicle | November/December 2017

determine whether they can complete
their own tasks within the allocated time
frame. Translation project managers also
have to work out how to deliver a quality
project on time and put together a skilled
team. To ensure a successful scheduling
process, everyone involved needs to pay
attention to the aspects discussed below.

TRANSLATION METRICS
After an accurate analysis of files and
volumes (e.g., number of words, number
of illustrations to localize, number of
pages for desktop publishing, etc.),
the first planning step is to evaluate
the number of working hours or days
required for the project. Knowing how
many units can be processed per hour
or per day for each production task

involved in the project is essential for this
calculation. For instance, the translation
of a technical guide could be based on
production metrics of 2,500 source
words per day. For marketing jobs,
translators might prefer to use estimates
of 2,000 source words per day. And for
software translation, where translators
often lack content (e.g., when translating
user interface strings) and possibly use a
specific localization program, it might be
preferable to reduce those to 1,500 source
words per day.
Obviously, translation metrics can be
adjusted according to the complexity of
the subject, the translator's skills, or even
the time needed to look for references.
Other factors could affect translators'
productivity, and for some specific projects
(e.g., the translation of medical software
involving new technology and a lot of
research), the pace of translation might be
limited to 750 source words per day.
The amount of material to be translated
could also influence the metrics. In a large
project, a translator might start slowly,
translating 1,000 words of documentation
per day at the beginning, and then reach
up to 3,000 at the end. Reversely, for
small projects of a few hundred words,
translators might never manage their
usual production metrics.

Project managers have to
meticulously select the right
people for each project, making
sure not to overload their
resources with too many tasks
assigned on the same days.

OTHER TASKS
Freelance translators sometimes accept
large or complex projects that they have
to subcontract either to other translators
or to specialists in charge of production
tasks like revision, desktop publishing,
screen shooting, and testing. As for project
managers, they nearly always entrust all
tasks to others. Consequently, it's crucial
that they know which metrics to apply
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - November/December 2017
