You’re probably the first in your team to realize that your current translation processes are tedious and inefficient — think copy-pasting lines of text into spreadsheets and manually rebuilding each document in new languages.
Now that you’re looking into new software to streamline and build your in-house translation pipeline, the next big question is: How do you get everyone else on your team to get excited about this potential solution to slow-moving translation projects?
To get the buy-in from your company, you’ll usually need to do two things:
- Convince your teammates that it’s worth investing their time in learning how to use a new translation tool.
- Convince your managers that it’s worth it to allocate a part of your translation budget to getting a new translation tool.
How do I get my team to try a new translation tool?
One method that a lot of our clients use is to allocate time in their schedule to organize a test run with their team.
Before you start a free trial of the tool with your team, they would benefit from a brief on why your company is testing the tool, and what they can expect from using the tool.
The main goal here is not to convince them to use a new translation tool, but to embrace a new way of working, which requires an understanding of why the current processes don’t work.
While you can direct your teammates to tutorials and help guides on the software, such as Redokun’s help center, it’s always good to have a quick face-to-face (or online) discussion on how this test run should pan out.
For example, who will handle the translations? What tools are built into the translation software that they can and should make use of? How do they hand over the project to the next person once they accomplish their task in the software?
If you’re considering Redokun as your translation management solution, you can always book a personalized demo with your team here. We’re happy to answer any questions your teammates might have!
How do I convince my managers of the cost benefits?
Stakeholders are often concerned about the cost when considering new translation tools, but it can be tricky to demonstrate the ROI and cost savings that arise from better translation management.
Since a lot of the improvements are discussed in time savings, let’s look into how we can translate that into numbers that you can present to the top stakeholders at your company.
Time considerations
Consider these when calculating your current efforts and expenses in delivering content for international markets:
- The amount of time your team spends on repetitive tasks like copy-pasting texts into a spreadsheet, or generally “preparing” a document for the actual translation process.
- The amount of time your team spends on actually translating the content.
- The amount of time you spend looking for information in your archives in order to reference past translations.
- The amount of time you or your designers spend on manually recreating the files for the translations so the formatting is the same as the original.
All the hours spent on the above tasks means that you have less time for other important work that you were hired to do, such as strategizing for product and marketing efforts.
Money considerations
Another way of seeing the cost of your current translation workflow is in how much you pay for translations (if you outsource), and whether you’re satisfied with the output (can it be used without any changes).
- If you outsource the work to translation agencies (language service providers), how much would they generally charge you to translate a specific document?
- If you find that your team has to constantly fix the translations provided by vendors (due to incorrect use of company terminology, etc.), that’s something to add to the “time considerations” list.
How do these considerations improve with a translation management tool like Redokun?
With a translation management tool that automates and streamlines your workflow, time saved is money saved for your business.
Depending on how the work is structured and the amount of content you need to translate, the amount of time saved differs.
Generally:
- The time you spend on manual tasks like copy-pasting texts and prepping a document is close to zero, because the tool can automate most of that for you.
- Even the actual process of translating the content is significantly sped up when you have automatic translation resources that make use of AI suggestions, PLUS your previously approved translations (translation memory suggestions).
Your ROI can be presented in terms of reduced translation turnaround times, improved translation quality, and decreased reliance on external translation services.
More importantly, your projects are less prone to delays, so you can then measure your company’s gains from being able to deliver content to market faster.
Summary
It is important for your managers and teammates to thoroughly understand the benefits that translation software can bring to your company.
When pitching the idea, highlight how the translation tools can streamline the translation workflow, improve accuracy, and increase productivity. Emphasize the time and cost savings that can be achieved by automating certain tasks, such as file management, terminology management, and quality assurance.
By showcasing the positive impact that translation software can have on the company's bottom line, you will be better positioned to gain the support of your stakeholders.
