"I was in touch with an impressive project manager."
A colleague referring to e-globalcom.net, on ProZ.com

Every job, however small, is assigned to an account or project manager who is familiar with your language and text. Project managers are neither secretaries with little understanding of the internal workload of the editor nor salespeople who sell the cheapest supplier at the highest price; instead, they are linguistic experts who understand your needs and want to assure you of superior results. Project managers are supported by our multi-purpose intranet, giving them a real-time overview of the workload of all staff, and enabling them to adjust or streamline the entire workflow whenever or wherever necessary:

 

1. Contact with the Customer After analyzing the files received in our system, the account or project manager contacts the client. The volume of the text, its complexity, and any specific wishes or needs of the client determine how much time will be needed. The project manager sees to it that the highest quality standards are met and maintains contact with the client throughout the project. He or she keeps you informed of the schedule, the budget, and progress toward deadlines and will gladly answer any questions. This close relationship is extremely important for producing successful projects. Feel free to take all your questions to your account or project manager.

2. Selection of the Best Team Members: The Right Person in the Right Place The account or project manager selects the right translators, copywriters, editors, and/or DTP specialists for the job. All team members have been carefully tested in the combination of source and target language, subject area, and type of text. This selection is based on a system of dynamic ranking. With each assignment, our translators and copywriters can earn a bonus point by doing an excellent job (+1) or lose a point for substandard work (-1). Our IT system also keeps track of the number of corrections our editors make per page. The resulting quality matrix is also taken into account when selecting your translators. Very large projects require several editors. If the account or project manager is unable to edit the entire job, he or she will use the same method to select additional editors. Click here for more information on selecting the best people.

3. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Quality assurance and quality control are always carried out by the account or project manager, or under his or her supervision. When several editors are put to work on one project, the account or project manager will streamline the terminology of the project and give clear instructions in the form of a style guide. Click here for more information on editing.

4. Terminology Management Every evening, our translators give us their terminology databases so they can be compared, amended, compiled, and, if desired, discussed with the client. Ideally, all parties concerned can resume work in the morning with the aid of a new version of the terminology. This method guarantees the greatest possible terminological consistency and keeps subsequent editing to a minimum. Terminological choices are increasingly based on the results of online searches. Websites of the clients themselves or of their competitors (even on related products) often contain a wealth of information. Example: In December 2000, when we were assigned the translation of the Microsoft scoop on the first beta of Whistler Embedded ('Whistler' was the code name used by Microsoft while working on Windows XP), our translators disagreed on how to translate the term 'embedded' into Dutch. In the context of an Office package, the Dutch translation of 'embedded object' is 'ingesloten object.' Our search for information on embedded systems yielded the translation 'ingebed'. Eventually, we discovered that Microsoft had already published a few documents about embedded systems, confirming for the project manager that 'embedded' should be left untranslated in Dutch. Microsoft France's site confirmed that the same was true for French. The Internet is an unlimited source of information, and all our account and project managers are in continuous training to make optimal use of online search engines. Click here for more information on online searching (The Internet Search Tutorial for Translators).

5. On-Time Delivery When you place your order, you specify a deadline, which we then confirm or adjust as necessary. Throughout the project, the account or project manager makes sure that everything is done on schedule so your job will be delivered on time. This is easier said than done because there are often unforeseen circumstances. Although we can estimate the time it takes to translate or rewrite a certain type of text, every text is different. Sometimes a term is so problematic that deciding on its translation can take as long as translating an entire page. It is the account or project manager's job to strike a balance between time, quality, and budget. In case of doubt, he or she will discuss with you whether or not the project needs to be given more time to ensure better quality. Another option is to put more people on the job, but for highly specialized jobs, for example, this is not always possible. Click here for more information on timing.

6. Feedback to All Parties Involved All translations are rigidly edited before delivery. Each step of the translation process receives scrupulous work-in-progress quality testing, and our clients can rest assured that our texts meet the most demanding standards in the translation business: DIN 2345 and LISA QA. For large-scale projects, feedback is crucial. But we draw up client-specific glossaries and generate feedback reports for smaller projects as well so our translators can continue to improve their skills. And they can automatically evaluate the correction of their texts via the e-globalcom.net intranet.