Everyone is talking about business globalization. Creating a multilingual online brand presence is becoming more and more important for businesses these days. The need for effective translation management infrastructures and workflow optimization is increasing to build global brands.
Your translation process efficiency is highly influenced by the workflows. For the successful accomplishment of your translation project, optimizing the translation workflow is critical. You must have all the right tools and resources to streamline the translation workflow to cope with the growing needs of your business.
Being a global business owner, it is important to make timely improvements in your translation workflow to manage your translation project more effectively.
In this article, you will learn about translation workflow management and ways to improve it to make your translation operations more efficient and agile.
What is Translation Workflow Management?
Translation workflow management (TWM) is a comprehensive approach to managing the translation of content from one language to another. It involves a systematic process of planning, executing, and monitoring the translation process to ensure that it is efficient, effective, and high-quality.
Translation workflow management is vital for the success of your translation process. It is not very hard to manage the translation work if you have the right tools and expertise. Large-scope translation projects with high volumes of content need to have a sound translation workflow structure in place to effectively manage the day-to-day translation tasks. In a translation project, we have to deal with different types of content, and many people are involved in the process. So, to keep things in control and eliminate complications, it is critical to have an efficient translation management workflow that supports your translation operations and ensures the successful accomplishment of the translation project.
Smart translation workflows not only make the accomplishment of translation tasks easier but also reduce the chances of errors and mistakes. Optimized translation workflow also leads to higher speed and there will be no missed deadlines.
No More Manual Translation Workflow
Before moving on to the perks of automated translation workflow management, you better know the issues with manual translation workflow. Following are the key reasons why manual translation workflows can be a total mess and you better avoid them in the first place.
1. They’re Time-consuming
The major issue with manual translation workflow management is that it is very time-consuming. A lot of time is wasted on copy-pasting the content, organizing spreadsheet data, searching for information, and sending files back and forth.
2. They’re Complicated
Manual translation workflow enhances the complications, and it becomes very hard to maintain accuracy. These workflows are more prone to errors and mistakes that prevent you from achieving localization goals.
3. Lower Transparency
There is no transparency in traditional translation workflow, which makes it even harder for project managers to track the progress of translation projects. Managers can’t get a clear vision of where they are standing.
4. Lack of Understanding
Because everything is managed by humans, there are more chances of misinformation and the project manager finds it difficult to move the project forward. The complex workflow also reduces the employee’s understanding of the project.
5. Higher Cost
With all the complications, inefficiencies, and uncertainties, manual translation workflow would cost you way more than automated workflows. You might start on a budget but you never know when things get out of your hands.
6. No Scalability
When it comes to scalability, it might not support the future needs of your business. You have to constantly upgrade your team and get more staff on board to handle higher volumes of content. This again would only lead to more trouble and inconvenience.
Why Use Automated Translation Workflow Management?
Rapid globalization, intense competition, and increasing customer demands make it even more important for a business to enhance its brand relevance to its target audiences. Localization and translation services have made it possible for international businesses to connect with foreign audiences on a deeper level. However, managing your localization project efficiently is a real challenge here.
When it comes to translation project management, manual translation workflow is not efficient enough to fulfill your growing business needs. Streaming the translation workflow is the backbone of your overall translation operations. Following are the top benefits you would get by using the TMS for automated translation workflow management.
1. Higher Speed
Things get super agile with automated translation workflows. You can quickly set up new projects and deal with day-to-day translation processes. Everything is automated and streamlined so well that no time is wasted. Unlike manual translation management, there is minimal human intervention, and most work is managed by AI systems. There will be fewer chances of missed deadlines and delays. Meeting deadlines is an important factor for language service providers to keep their clients satisfied.
2. Reduced Cost
Most businesses are resistant to buying TMS because they think it would add to their overall translation project cost. Yes, it is an expense, but it eliminates a lot of other expenses that you might have in traditional translation workflow management. For instance, it reduces your need to hire excessive translators and other staff. The monthly salaries of your employees are a way bigger expense than the monthly subscription fee of one TMS. Moreover, it reduces the likelihood of major mistakes that also prevent you from those extra expenses and efforts on edits.
3. No Complications
The best thing about automated translation workflow management is its ability to keep things in control. TMS tool would simplify the overall translation workflow and eliminate all sorts of complexities. Most of the tasks are managed by AI systems with less human involvement, so you can maintain high quality and accuracy. It also makes it possible for the project managers to manage more work in less time.
4. Higher Quality Translations
The quality of your translations is directly connected with the speed and efficiency of their translation workflows. Streamlined translation workflows lead to higher quality and error-free translations. Smart workflow helps you manage different types of translation content effectively with proper quality measures. Moreover, TMS tools also contain translation memory and glossaries that also help improve the quality of your translations. Well-organized workflows enhance the employee’s understanding of the project which makes them meet the translation requirements.
5. Higher Transparency
For the success of any translation project, it is important to have an optimized and efficient translation management system in place that would provide higher transparency. It allows the project managers to easily track the progress of the project and make timely improvements in faulty areas. Not just that, the automated workflow also gives your employees a higher understanding of the project. Because everything is transparent to everyone, they can have a clear view of the project’s current standing.
6. Enhanced Communication
Communication is one of the major factors that directly influence the credibility and success of your translation project. TMS automated translation workflow management does not just make every task easier but also enables effective communication between your localization team. Most TMSs contain smart chat options to allow their employees to communicate with each other in real-time.
7. Higher Data Accessibility
TMSs not only automate the translation workflow but also have a user-friendly interface that makes it easier for employees to search for any piece of information or translation document in just a few clicks. TMS translation workflow creates an ecosystem that makes every task management super easy for employees. Moreover, the data is stored in a centralized location, which further reduces the hassle of accessing the translation document. There is no need to send excessive emails to employees and ask anyone to send you the updated version of a translated file. Everything is accessible to everyone, which makes the translation workflow even smoother.
8. Remote Collaborations
If some of your employees work remotely, having such tools can make things more convenient for you. Using the smart communication features of TMS, your remote employees can effortlessly collaborate with the in-house team. Not just that, centralized data storage allows your authorized remote employees to have access to updated translation documents whenever they want, using any device.
Moreover, you can easily train your remote employees on your translation projects and you would get easily familiar with the automated workflows because of their simplified structure. So, if you are a global business that has to deal with remote employees, an automated translation workflow would make team management much easier for you.
9. Reliefs Employees
Effective translation workflow management aids the employees in the successful accomplishment of their tasks. It reduces their workloads which can lead to higher productivity and efficiency. As your business grows, the need for translation also rises. Higher workloads can frustrate your employees, which can have a direct impact on their performance. It is important for you to keep your employee satisfied at work, so they can deliver their best. Automated workflows handle the maximum translation burden and put minimal loads on your employees, which leads to higher job satisfaction.
10. Scalability
Is your translation workflow future-oriented? If not, you are probably on the wrong track. Your translation workflow should support your business’s future goals. When you use automated translation workflow management, it helps you easily scale your business to the increasing translation needs. A smart translation workflow structure would allow you to scale your business more conveniently.
Tips To Optimize Your Translation Workflow
1. Define Translation Processes
It might sound simple but not many companies have predefined standards for translation processes. For creating an effective workflow, it is significant to define your translation processes. There are different factors that can influence your translation processes, such as the project scope, business size, and amount of content you want to translate on a daily basis. All you have to do is define your project needs along with the tools that might be needed to fulfill those needs. It would help you to map the project procedures and workflow, it also allows you to be aware of all the challenges that you might face somewhere down the line.
2. Higher Adaptability
Adapting your translations to the changing demands of the market and business is vital to successfully undertaking the translation project. You might have to manage different translation projects simultaneously, you must adapt your translation work to the unique needs of every project. Similarly, if your business is in a growing phase, or you have to provide translation services to other brands working in different countries, it is important for you to keep innovating your translation procedures to the changing demands of every new market.
3. Enhance Consistency
People still doubt the credibility of machine translations; however, machine-generated translations are more consistent as compared with human translations. To create a multilingual brand presence with a consistent voice across all regions, machine translation tools would be a better option. These tools use translation memory, style guides, and glossaries to keep the translations consistent. Moreover, these tools also cut down your overall translation cost. Using a machine translation tool would make your translation workflow more agile and hassle-free.
4. Promote Good Collaboration
Enhanced collaboration between company stakeholders (employees, project managers, and clients) leads to a seamless and convenient translation workflow. Project managers can easily voice their concerns and vision to each and every team member. Better communication and collaboration between teams lead to greater efficiency, and no one loses track of the project vision.
5. No Workplace Silos
Professional jealousy and corporate policies make people selfish and career-oriented so they start keeping their knowledge and expertise to themselves. Collaboration between team members is the key to avoiding workplace silos. For example, you should avoid hiring only one expert in a department who will be controlling everything. You better hire 2 or more people in charge of the translation project. When employees give 100% and share their knowledge and expertise, it reduces workplace tension, promotes teamwork, and optimizes the translation workflow.
Wrapping Up!
Translation workflow management is something that deeply influences your translation project journey and results altogether. This article talks about the drawbacks of manual translation workflow and why using automated TMS translation workflow can help optimize the overall translation processes and project outcomes. Moreover, you have to keep in mind all the important factors that can lead to an optimized translation workflow. Being a global business owner or LSP, it is important for you to create smart transaction workflow management to carry out everyday translation processes easily. To create an effective translation workflow, you can either hire experts or partner with a reliable translation management company.
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