What Project Managers Wish You Knew

Language agency project managers are the often unseen and underappreciated organisers at the heart of the translation process. Here's what they wish their clients and translators they work with understood about their job.

As a native English Dutch-to-English translator working with agencies across the Netherlands and beyond, I see firsthand how PMs have to keep multiple plates spinning at once – and how one wobble can threaten to bring a project crashing down.

The project manager's role

Project managers do far more than clients and freelancers probably realise.

They receive the client brief, prepare the source files, make sure reference materials are available, choose and assign suitable translators and editors, send out instructions and reference materials, handle translator and client queries, mentor junior team members, keep the client updated and manage the workflow across multiple languages and tools. They check files at each stage, maintain termbases and translation memories, and deal with last-minute changes from the small to the scarily significant. They make sure the project stays on track and on budget and that every file is delivered on time, in the right format and to the required standard.

That all sounds stressful enough, doesn't it? But if any of this goes wrong, it's usually the PM's job to fix it.

How do translators make the PM's job harder?

Project managers deal with a steady stream of problems every day, some created by translators and some by clients. Often, a PM is dealing with both and on multiple projects at once, but when the translator messes up, this can cause the biggest headaches.

Missing deadlines

It's all too common for translators to miss deadlines. This leaves revisors and editors with less time to review their work. Then, if the language bureau also does layout, that's delayed, and final checks have to be pushed back. A single delay can have a ripple effect that threatens the deadline. And if the agency misses the deadline, their client may decide to go somewhere else next time. That affects everyone, including the freelance Dutch-to-English translators who rely on the agency for work.

Poor communication

You'd think translators, whose entire job is about communication, would always get this right, but it's also one of the first things to go wrong.

When a project manager sends a job to a translator, they need a quick response. A simple 'Yes, I can do this' or even just wordlessly clicking an 'accept job' button gives them clarity. When the translator doesn't reply, the PM is left waiting. Should they follow up? Should they give the job to someone else? If they wait too long and then find out the translator is unavailable, the deadline may already be at risk before work even begins.

If a translator sends queries too late, the PM has to make rushed decisions or go back to the client at the last minute, which is not a great look. And if the translator spots something unusual in the source text but waits too long to flag it (or doesn't flag it at all so it's not picked up until later in the process), there won't be enough time to rectify it properly. Poor communication can end up putting pressure on everyone else in the chain and makes poor impression on the client.

Slips and sloppiness

Daily irritations for many PMs are caused by a simple lack of care. The translator omits parts of the source text from their translation. Numbers and figures are transferred over incorrectly. Instructions are only half followed or not followed at all. Tags aren't checked and formatting is changed without reason. File-naming rules are incorrectly applied, which can break automation or confuse the next person in the chain. Glossaries are only loosely adhered to or not used at all. Worse still, unfamiliar terms that aren't in the termbase are guessed at instead of researched properly. Such slips and sloppiness cause extra work down the chain and make the PM and the agency look careless.

How do clients make the PM's job harder?

It's not just translators who cause headaches for project managers. End clients, often with little understanding of how language projects actually work, can unintentionally make the PM's job more difficult.

Not supplying what's needed to do the job well

End clients frequently fail to give the PM what they need to ensure the job is done well and on time.

Source texts arrive late, incomplete or riddled with errors that need to be addressed before work on the translation can begin. They don't provide reference material that would have helped the translator do the job properly, or when they do send it in response to the PM's request, it's too late to be genuinely useful. It's very difficult to translate a product description properly when you don't know what the product looks like! Often, they provide no brief at all and expect the agency and linguists to intuit what they want. And they take an unhelpfully long time to respond to queries about any of these things.

Last-minute changes

Some clients have a habit of changing the source text at the last minute, sending new or modified copy well after the project has started and even perilously close to the deadline. On occasion, a client will realise, upon receiving the finished translation, that they actually wanted something more formal, more conversational, or simply different from what they originally requested and ask for changes (without incurring extra payment). Sometimes, they'll rewrite the delivered translation themselves and send it back to the agency, requesting that the original translator 'just do a quick check' of the revised version (which now contains non-idiomatic language or worse, 'Dunglish') without offering the agency any extra time or budget.

The PM has to accommodate and coordinate these changes without demonstrating annoyance, delaying delivery, or allowing them to affect quality.

Unreasonable expectations

There are practical issues too that make it difficult to do the job well, and these are often caused by unreasonable expectations. Clients sometimes send (poorly) scanned PDFs instead of editable files that the PM struggles to convert into a readable source text. They expect same-day turnaround, even on highly technical material, and in general, they underestimate the time required for a good translation. This puts enormous extra pressure on the project manager, who has to deal with their overambitious deadline.

On their own, the issues caused by freelancers and end clients are usually not too serious. But when they have a knock-on effect that affects quality or deadlines, it can reflect badly on the project manager, who then has to take responsibility for problems they didn't cause.

What I do to help

Translators are just one part of the process, but we can make a big difference. My aim is always to be a translator who removes stress rather than adds to it!

So, I confirm every job quickly. If I've accepted the job, the PM can trust it's in hand, and they won't need to chase me up. When I'm going to be unavailable, I let the PM know. I respond to emails promptly. I ask questions early. I read the brief. I follow the instructions. I use the materials provided. If there's a serious issue in the source text, I flag it early so my colleagues in the chain have time to address it. I leave comments explaining choices so the PM doesn't have to spend time forwarding questions from the revisor. I do the best I can with tagging so that the formatting is followed as much as possible. I name the files exactly as requested. I check my work before delivery – multiple times and in multiple ways.

None of this is difficult or complicated. It's just part of doing my job properly so the PM can do their job properly. And ultimately, it helps ensure the end client is happy, which is the best outcome for everyone involved.

Need a Dutch-to-English translation?

If you're looking for a Dutch-to-English translator who will treat your workflow with respect, please don't hesitate to get in touch via email or by filling in the contact form and find out how I can help you keep the plates spinning.