The latest version of SDL’s translation project management software that keeps you in full control of your translation projects
by Greta Magyar October 1 2019 – read time: 10 min I worked as a translation project manager for three years, and during that time, friends and relatives not familiar with the role would often ask me, “So what does a translation project manager do?” The answer, in short, is ‘we juggle’. Yes, translation project managers are the professional jugglers of the translation and localization industry, tasked with keeping all the components of a translation project in the air and well-coordinated at the same time. We are the people who keep the performance running smoothly and ensure no ball is dropped before the grand finale – final project delivery to the client. Needless to say, if you are not a brilliant juggler to begin with, you soon become one, and it is this constant need for both good organization skills and a natural flair for diplomacy that sets us apart as a truly unique act.
The challenges faced by translation project managers
Translation project management is a difficult act to perform well, most notably due to the sheer amount of balls we have to keep in the air at one time. Below are some key challenges faced by translation project managers on a daily basis…
Having to use spreadsheets
My fellow project managers will heave a collective sigh with this one. Having to keep track of translation projects by using multiple spreadsheets can be a prolonged administrative process, and I recall personally spending a lot of my working hours on reporting.
Manually extracting data from SDL Trados Studio and growing reports on well-kept spreadsheets provided me with helpful analyses, but I would have preferred to spend that time on more productive tasks.
Keeping everyone updated and on track
Another time-heavy task is keeping translators and clients updated and on track. This requires a constant back and forth of emails to make sure everyone is fully aware of what is expected and when. Time-frame adjustments and ad-hoc changes are commonplace, so keeping everyone up to speed on project developments is an ongoing effort.
Knowing how projects are progressing
Once the files requiring translation are dispensed to their allocated translators, knowing how they are progressing is reliant upon each translator keeping us well-informed. Having to manually request status updates and feedback from each individual team member can be a never-ending chore.
Final reviews being done in separate applications
Everything needs the final seal of approval before it is handed back to the client. Depending on the area of industry the translated documents relate to, subject matter experts in that particular field are often required to check the translation adheres to industry-specific terms and style before final disclosure to the client.
Reviewers are industry specialists and usually not translators, so it is unlikely they will have access to the CAT tool our translators are using (SDL Trados Studio). Due to this, they will have to make their changes in a separate application and these changes will then have to be applied manually. This generates more work and, again, costs time.
SDL Trados GroupShare 2020 – The translation project management system that’s a tough act to follow
When I learned about SDL Trados GroupShare 2020, I was incredibly excited. The improvements made and the new features implemented in the latest version had all been requested by translation project managers and translation agencies who used SDL Trados GroupShare on a daily basis, so I knew they would be advantageous and effective additions…
Project template creation and task notification
You can now create and edit project templates on the SDL Trados GroupShare web UI, as well as in SDL Trados Studio. You can create your project based on existing or even empty project templates on the SDL Trados GroupShare website and edit the settings to best fit your project’s requirements.
Remember the issue with having to keep everyone updated and on track through an endless stream of emails? Earlier versions of SDL Trados GroupShare helped to counteract this by automatically notifying people when you assigned work to them, and also by displaying the files in the notification that they had been requested to work on. SDL Trados GroupShare 2020 maintains this practical feature and further compliments it by giving you the ability to see how each assigned task is progressing, as I discuss further below.
Putting translation project managers back in control with dynamic resource access and permissions
SDL Trados GroupShare 2020 provides the managers of the GroupShare environments (project managers, localization managers, business owners, etc) with complete control over who has access to what within their projects. You can allocate who has the ability to see certain tasks and who has permission to edit said tasks, providing great peace of mind in terms of data privacy and ensuring your team knows precisely which tasks are relevant to them. What’s more, once a task has been completed, it will be removed from the translator’s view, so you don’t have to worry about information lingering.
Enhanced analytics and reporting module
The days of having to extract data manually and create a host of reporting spreadsheets are finally gone! Translation project managers now have access to translation management data at a more refined level than ever before, embodied in SDL Trados GroupShare 2020’s three pre-defined reports:
- Project Report
- Task Report
- Translation Memory Report
The Project Report provides an overview of current projects in a summarised form. This is a very convenient quick-glance view that you can use for your weekly, or even monthly, summaries.The Task Report is a more in-depth task-by-task breakdown. This is really effective for daily status reports as you can see how each task is progressing and what percentage of it has been completed. Knowing where your team is doing well and identifying areas where you may need to juggle your resources to play catch up is a godsend when you are on a tight timeline.The Translation Memory Report provides useful insight into the quality of your TMs. In the past, I was often asked to give overviews of how much leverage certain TMs had provided across projects, and how much content had been added to them in certain periods.
Previously, the only way I could provide these reports was through hours of manual work – opening up old TMs (if they were even still available) and compiling analysis reports in multiple spreadsheets. Now, the new Translation Memory Report generates all this information automatically for you, eradicating the need for that Excel sorcery I was accustomed to. https://players.brightcove.net/6202477137001/default_default/index.html?videoId=1714769814935645683
Online Editor for different user scenarios
As I touched upon earlier in my blog, not everyone who reviews content will be a translator. Subject matter experts will likely not use a CAT tool to check translation work. With SDL Trados GroupShare 2020, there is the option to utilise either the Basic Online Editor, or the Advanced Online Editor for your projects.
- The Basic Online Editor is an easy-to-use editing environment for subject matter review. Allocated reviewers can proof read translated files in the Basic Online Editor, make any tracked changes and provide additional notes as necessary.
- The Advanced Online Editor is ideal for translators. It contains more, essential functionalities used in SDL Trados Studio, such as rich quality assurance checks, find and replace, and much more. This enables translators to have the choice of working offline with SDL Trados Studio, or online, in this new editing environment.
In conclusion…
If you are wondering how to manage your translation projects in the best possible way, SDL Trados GroupShare 2020 is the translation project management system that provides the answer. It elevates the project manager from juggler to ringmaster, and with that kind of safety net, you never have to worry about dropping the ball again.
about Greta Magyar Greta helps translation professionals make the most of SDL’s translation software in their daily work.
