Managing global translation projects through virtual spaces

The last 30 years has seen significant changes in the translation industry. Technology and low barriers to entry has allowed a huge uplift in the demand for translation services to be met by an army of language service providers ( LSPs) and freelancers based all over the globe. This decoupling of the process of creating the end product from the original source now means that LSPs are now more able to meet client demands for fast turnaround of translation projects. However with this increased capacity has come the need for LSPs to deploy effective processes and technology to manage global collaboration.

The use of global collaboration processes and technology still seems to be fairly limited in the translation industry. Recent innovations in server-based terminology management, have extended the ability of LSPs to manage disparate teams of translators, however the use of global collaboration tools which allow real time interaction is still comparatively rare. Rather the traditional lifecycle of dividing up document into parts, assigning parts to individual translators who work in isolation, assembling and reviewing the document for quality and then sending it to the client still seems to be the norm.

The difficulties inherent in this approach include:

• inconsistency- consolidation is difficult, even when working from an existing termbase due to different styles and interpretations of translators
• lack of interaction -  there is little if any direct interaction between client and translator
• too little too late – too little time and resource is allocated to document revision which means that finalising a file for say publication is squeezed into the end of translation project
• rapid incorporation of changes can be difficult to achieve without a centralised messaging platform
• opaqueness - lack of process transparency leaves clients in the dark on translation quality until it is (sometimes) too late

Using virtual spaces for complex translation projects

An alternative approach for managing complex[1] global translation projects is to use ‘virtual spaces’ to mitigate some of the traditional problems associated with dispersed teams working in isolation. A virtual space is a web-based area in which project resources can collaborate to achieve a project objective. Traditionally many LSPs have created basic virtual spaces to facilitate interaction with their resources and clients; typically through an extranet. However, these tend to offer a feature set limited to file transfer, job assignment and invoice management. A more innovative use of the concept of virtual spaces involves mediating all communication on a project through the space.

Setting up a virtual space is a simple process. There are a range of options to choose from ranging from building your own by leveraging open source software to renting a hosted platform on a monthly basis for a small fee. Typical features you should look out for include:

• messaging via MS Outlook – users can reply to project questions via MS outlook rather than having to log in to the space online
• the ability to allow real time interaction e.g. through and integrated chat room
• project milestones or timelines so all resources on the project are aware of deadlines and dependencies
• the ability to assign tasks so everyone knows who’s doing what when
• project whiteboard that enables interactive editing of a document
• secure file management and sharing
• granular permissioning structure that would allow for multiple levels of messaging. Messages can sent via the virtual space to individuals, language groups,  only LSP employees or clients or to everyone on the project

The advantages of virtual spaces

Virtual spaces can be valuable tools for supporting global translation project management. Benefits include:

• increased buy-in: translators feel part of the team rather than hired hands
• interacting with the client review team from the project outset improves the translation/reviewer dynamic and reduces the likelihood of “not translated by us” syndrome
• a shared sense of responsibility for project success means that both the client and reviewer feel they play an important part in the translation process and achieving a successful project outcome
• reduces client anxiety over outsourcing their text to third parties - clients enjoy having direct access to translators
• translation can be faster – a centralised messaging system means communicating changes to terminology etc is faster and documented
• clear audit trail – sophisticated reporting mechanisms mean that all versions are stored and accessible online and who said what when is captured for later analysis.

Things to bear in mind

Using virtual spaces effectively is not as simple as setting up a hosted service and hoping for the best. Rather the level of transparency that typifies the majority of virtual collaboration platforms means that client/LSP resource interaction must be carefully managed. Key lessons learned include:

• Ensure freelancers are fully briefed on how to interact with the client if that option is enabled. They represent the public face of your company even though they are often ‘guns for hire’. Ensure each freelance project resource undergoes a thorough induction in how to use the virtual space.
• Carefully manage what is posted online. Early drafts may be better managed offline rather than being posted for the client to see. Alternatively have a private ‘sandbox’ area on your virtual space that will allow your internal resources to post and discuss early drafts. Collaboration spaces are like goldfish bowls where potentially everything is visible so manage permissioning (who can see/do what where and when) carefully.
• Ensure clients are fully briefed on their roles and responsibilities on the translation project. There needs to be an informal service level agreement on how quickly client reviewers can respond to translation questions (typically 24hrs).

The future of global translation management and collaboration

Greater automation

It is clear that the trend towards increased automation of translation processes will continue unabated. While the holy grail of inputting complex source text, pressing a button and instantly receiving perfect target text will remain a dream for somewhat longer, it will not be long before companies with considerable translation volumes will insist on a level of automated translation in order to improve the three key criteria in the translation equation: cost, time and quality. While cost and time can be measured exactly, quality remains a subjective factor. This is likely to have an impact on how the key actors in the translation equation, clients, LSPs and translators, collaborate in the future in the following ways:

Greater openness and willingness to share translation assets.

As translation workflow and linguistic asset management become standard features, industries will collaborate on an agreed terminology and will be increasingly likely to share translation memories in order to reduce costs. It is likely that translation assets - translation memories and terminology – will be organised by industry domains rather than being limited by company boundaries.  This will enable the quick assembly of unified linguistic databases for industrial domains. Clients may create industry specific virtual spaces for storing translation assets and making them available to translators et al.

Intelligent customers - Companies get smarter about content management

Companies will implement controlled language authoring, machine translation, XML based publishing and global workflow systems to improve the quality and speed of translation whilst lowering the costs. As companies collaborate on production so will they collaborate to reduce industry-wide translation costs. Expect the emergence of vertical translation organisations[2].

Social translation: the increased use of crowdsourcing

Wikipedia defines crowdsourcing as “the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people, in the form of an open call”. In the context of translation of a website this means a client inviting its customers to offer translations of product collateral and content[3]

Mirroring the open source and creative commons philosophy some organisations, especially in the software development industry, will rely on external user communities to translate their software or catalogues. Francis Tsang, director of globalization at Adobe Systems Inc. recently stated that:

“Companies like Adobe and Sun Microsystems use naturally-emerging crowds with specialist knowledge about products who want more product content in their own languages. This way we can localize product-related content for languages which may not be high priority, but which nevertheless help grow our markets”[4].

The increasing use of the “wisdom of crowds” may see companies and organisations using making great use of machine translation supported by tightly controlled term bases and translation memories, and then refined by ‘crowd translators’[5]. For international organisations this might involve sending automatically translated texts for refinement via online communities of practice (e.g. internal translators). The question remains as to how to manage this process – such as marshalling the chatter of many individuals into a coherent viewpoint on how a particular sentence should be optimally translated. For the moment this would seem far more time-consuming and expensive in the long run than assigning the translation to a small translation team. But this likely to change in the future.

Greater use of virtual spaces.

Clients will come to expect greater collaboration and transparency during complex translation projects. Clients want to reduce the feeling that outsourcing a translation project is like throwing a boomerang in the dark, by being able to shape the translation process throughout its lifecycle. There will thus be an increased demand for virtual spaces where client staff can interact directly with LSP resources.

By using a virtual space translation both LSPs and their clients can benefit from: more efficient translation asset management, improved client relationship management and potentially faster translation  – all parts of the translation are available to all members of the translation team in real time which allows for faster knowledge dissemination

For more information on virtual spaces or global collaboration in the translation industry please visit www.strategicagenda.com or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Author Biography

Dr. Fola Yahaya is an information infrastructure expert specialising in global collaboration and content management.  Dr. Yahaya has a PhD from the London School of Economics in Information Systems.

He has over 10 years experience as an IT consultant working for clients such Morgan Stanley, the United Nations Development Programme, UK Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign office.

He is a Managing Partner at Strategic Agenda LLP a global translation and localisation services company.