Why can a good project manager become your best friend?

Not everyone can be a good project manager.

A good project manager makes sure that the entire translation project runs smoothly without you even noticing it. A bad one makes sure that the entire translation project resembles a safari – slow, with frequent stops, very adventurous and barely with a shower in sight (the end result might be just as adventurous for the client).

Have you ever worked with freelance translators and a translation agency?

If you have ever worked with freelance (independent) translators as well as a translation agency, you probably noticed the most important difference: the time you had to take from your regular work and dedicate it to the coordination and arrangements. And this is just one of the important differences.

If you haven't collaborated with freelance translators yet, let us shed some light on it: when working with freelance translators, you are responsible for finding a translator, proofreader, graphic designer, IT technician, as well as for making all agreements and coordinating the price, deadlines, terminology, potential inconsistencies, (god forbid) non-compliance with the deadlines, or even when a translator goes AWOL.

When collaborating with a translation agency, you mostly have contact with one person: the project manager, to whom you send the files, tell them the desired delivery deadline for the translation, and let them know about any preferred terminology and design peculiarities. That is where your work ends. Sounds great (too great to be true), right?

Just like we are not equally good at doing the dishes, each project manager is not equally good at their work. Let's see how you can easily identify a good project manager with the help of this article!

#1: A good project manager is your only point of contact

A high-quality translation project involves a whole team of experts – from the translator and proofreader to the graphic designer, IT expert and others (and of course we must not forget about you – the client!). Communication between all parties must be fluid, fast, clear, and transparent.

If there are problems, ambiguities, or complications, a good project manager will always make sure that they are resolved quickly and efficiently, without the client having to spend sleepless nights.

Does the translator and proofreader disagree about the best solution for a particular term?

Don't worry, it’ll be handled by the project manager.

The graphic designer is not sure about how to design the file according to your original?

Don't worry, it’ll be handled by the project manager.

Has the IT expert discovered a human error overlooked by the translator and proofreader when uploading the text to the website and you would like to check it with a translator?

Don't worry, it’ll be handled by the project manager.

#2: A good project manager will assemble the entire project team regardless of the number of languages, words, and the deadline

Sometimes you simply need a translation of just 2 sentences in 10 languages. It’s time-consuming, but what can you do?

Will you really try to find 10 translators and 10 proofreaders yourself and try to make arrangements with each and every one in addition to all the rest of the work that needs to be done and that you are actually really good at?

Leave the cumbersome task of searching for a project team to someone who is an expert in the field and knows exactly who to contact depending on the scope and expertise of your text.

#3: A good project manager takes care of the deadlines and individual phases of the project

Have you ever worried if the translator will finish the translation in time so that you can send it for review to the proofreader and then pass it on to the IT team, who will upload it to your website before going on vacation in merely 4 days?

When working together with a good project manager, you can kiss such problems goodbye. A good project manager takes care of the deadlines of each project phase and will send you the translated, proofread, and formatted text at the agreed deadline – or even earlier! If you wish, they will even make arrangements with their internal IT team to populate your website with the text. (Can it get any better? Yes, keep on reading!)

#4: A good project manager takes care of your guidelines and resolves anything that might not be clear

Some clients have their own glossaries and style guides that provide certain specifics to translators, such as currency conversions, translations of slogans, localisation of national peculiarities, etc. A good project manager will check if the reference documents have been taken into account and will remind the translator and the proofreader of them before the start of their work phase.

If the client does not have such documents, the project manager will collect the questions from the team members and, most often, send them to you to gather your wishes and other information.

When working with a freelance translator, you can, of course, deal with individual questions from both the translator and the proofreader yourself – who says your work cannot wait for a few hours or even a whole day when dealing with a major project? 

#5: A good project manager ensures optimal use of your translation tool

Do you use a specialised translation tool that is not among the most common translation tools used by translators? A good translation manager will get to know the CAT tool, thus helping translators and proofreaders with any complications during their use or when getting to know it in general. You certainly have more important work to do.

#6: A good project manager will listen to you – and hear you

If you work in a specific field of expertise, such as medicine, technical field, or law, you certainly do not want to leave the translation of your texts to chance. You probably have a range of special requirements that you want to be taken into account, specific terminology, and communication style that you want to maintain. A good project manager will record all your wishes and make sure that they are taken into account by the entire project team and will check again whether your requirements have been met before delivering the translation.

#7: A good project manager will negotiate with the team members on your behalf

You know what budget you have available for the translation. Do you really want to deal with each team member specifically about what share of the budget you can dedicate to them? And when you finally manage to agree on the price with the translator after countless emails, you have to go through the entire process with the proofreader, the graphic designer, perhaps even the IT expert who will upload your text to the web all over again. That sounds like fun three days of negotiations, doesn’t it? Not really. You can instead simply agree on the price with the project manager and leave all other arrangements to them. A good project manager knows what they are doing and how to approach the matter.

The answer to the question of what a good project manager
is like and whether to work with one is pretty straightforward, right?