Project management for content strategists

I was recently chatting with a project coordinator about a translation assignment. Her team had been tasked with translating a set of corporate standards into several European languages.

After receiving the translated files, the client was dissatisfied with the result and claimed that the translations were obsolete. The project coordinator was quite surprised.

What could have gone wrong?

Later, the project team discovered that the original documents had undergone multiple rounds of editing after being sent out for translation. Some new local regulations had been introduced, so the corporate standards had to be updated to reflect the changing framework.

Unfortunately, the project team was never informed about these changes on time and couldn't adjust their work to the client's specifications. At that stage, the translations represented an unnecessary investment in terms of time, money and resources.

Were the translators responsible for this issue? Not really. Could this situation have been avoided? Sure.

How? By establishing a clear project plan from the start.

Let's go through the steps that should be considered.

Analysis. What is the context? First, it's important to define factors like target groups, economic importance, client and user needs, company goals, legal requirements, risks and technical complexity of the project. This first stage is crucial, as it will determine how the entire project is managed.

Planning and research. As we approach the content creation phase, we need to know exactly what we will write about. When documenting a product or service, we must understand its life cycle in detail. Several professionals (engineers, product managers, service departments, marketing and sales teams, users, etc.) can be involved in gathering information.

Content preparation and processing. Based on the information collected in the previous stages, it is now possible to determine which topics must be covered and prepare the content structure. Existing authoring guides and terminology are applied, and graphic elements are designed.

Quality assurance. The content is tested for quality through various checks, including document format, spelling, terminology, style and usability.

Change management. At this stage, content management systems are leveraged to assess the amount of reusable information and the scope of the revisions needed. The processes developed in the previous steps can be reviewed and repeated as needed to manage changes and updates.

Localization. Ideally, translation and localization should come into the picture at this stage, once the content has been checked for quality and updated. If the previous steps were planned carefully, the localization specialists could already have access to a good amount of background documentation. You can read my post on localization concepts for more information on this topic.

Layout. Certain languages require more characters than others, while some use statistically shorter words. This is why content should be developed independently from layout. Layout follows function: since the layout can change, it should be applied only after the content is created whenever possible.

Archive. Once the (localized) content is submitted for publication and print, it should be archived in a structured way. This is needed for legal requirements, quality improvement purposes and compliance with service standards, among other reasons.

If you are a project manager, content writer or localization specialist, the above outline can help you see the bigger picture and understand which functions are involved at each stage.

Some of these steps will overlap or will have to be tweaked, removed or iterated, depending on the project's needs. In any case, here are a few aspects to keep in mind:

• Plan ahead. Whatever your role is in this process, make sure you have all the necessary information upfront so you can start on the right foot. To avoid delays, ensure you have enough time to complete your assignment.
• Set clear expectations. At the beginning of the project, request details on what is needed exactly and clarify what can or can't be achieved in an honest and professional way.
• Keep the communication open. Talk frequently to your colleagues and the other teams involved to ensure you are all on the same page. Ask questions, address misunderstandings and cooperate to reach your common goal.