“What is your biggest localization-based challenge?” At Lokalise, we often ask localization project managers this question. And the truth is, there are some common challenges that frequently crop up, such as:
- Structuring communication with stakeholders
- Managing continuous QA processes
- Controlling the budget
For project managers who are looking for a better way, we are here to help you figure it out by responding to questions like:
- How can you centralize communication and visualize every step of the localization process?
- What should you focus on to ensure speed of delivery while maintaining a consistent, localized experience?
- What tools do you need?
To help answer these questions (and more!), we asked project managers at SMEs, industry researchers, and language practitioners what their biggest localization-based challenges are. In this post, we’ll share some of the insights gained as well as advice to equip you with the tools and knowledge you need to oversee the localization process end to end.
Let’s start by looking at the common challenges.
1. Poor communication
For us, the main challenge was the volume of manual tasks and unfollowed projects. Managing projects in spreadsheets and emails was prone to error and it was easy to miss information or miss communications.Carmen Avilés Suárez, Localization Manager, Agilent Technologies
Poor communication creates more work. Few things are as important as practicing structured, clear, centralized communication.
The smaller the company, group, or team, the fewer the opportunities for miscommunication. Now, think of all the contributors you have in your localization team. As the number of contributors increases, so does the risk of misunderstandings. This tends to be true regardless of whether you’re working with freelance translators, vendors, or in-house translators.
Adopting a centralized, collaborative platform creates a single source of truth for everyone participating in the localization process. Not only does it ensure that everyone is working from the same set of information, it also keeps everyone focused on the same priorities.
How Lokalise helps
With a TMS like Lokalise, you can structure and centralize communication and manage the entire localization process from a single dashboard, allowing you to:
- Integrate with Slack and email or Microsoft Teams via Zapier
- Communicate using the Slack-style project chat in Lokalise
- Comment on and automatically open discussions about specific keys
- End back-and-forth communications with your team in channels disconnected from the localization process
2. Inefficient systems
As a localization manager, sometimes I have the feeling that 20% of my time is asking for access to shared documents that co-workers keep secret for unknown reasons. Eike-Marie Eiting, Localization Manager, Jimdo
Usually, localization workflows are managed using a patched-together system that is siloed and relies heavily on good old spreadsheets. It’s especially difficult to manage a growing group of people without integrated tools and data that flows into a single workspace.
So how do you efficiently plan workloads, track progress, and reduce the time spent on costly revision cycles?
How Lokalise helps
Avoid disconnected systems by syncing all relevant information to your translation management platform, for instance:
- Integrate your task management systems like Jira, Asana, TimeCamp, Trello, and Lighthouse to Lokalise or Wrike and monday.com via Zapier
- Have automated monitoring set up for content transfer from and to your file storage systems like Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive via Zapier
As a project manager, you need a tool that allows you to conveniently assign tasks and manage projects with full visibility of your team’s workloads. Lokalise’s audit logs allow you to see all the activity from your team. You can also get more granular information by filtering specific activities by date, team member, and event type. Plus, you can have a 360-degree overview of all your project data, like so:
