As part of project management, resources, including translators, engineers and desktop publishers, need to be scheduled and allocated. The goal is to make the most effective use of the people assigned to the project.

Resource management for localization project management involves setting up a project team, finding the right resources,and adding additional resources if necessary. Most localization project managers do not manage corporate human resource activities,

such as staff employment, performance management, salary surveys, and legal issues. Project managers assign production staff to projects, but production staff usually reports to line managers.

Use of external contractors and agencies is very common for most localization vendors. A dedicated resource manager is usually responsible for negotiating prices and contractual agreements with these resources.

1. RESOURCE PLANNING

Determine first the number of resources and the necessary skills required to complete the project. These factors will affect both the duration, quality, and the cost of the project. If a relatively high proportion of unexperienced people is put on the job, the costs may be low, but the quality will most certainly be affected. If more experienced, and more expensive resources are used, the costs and quality will improve accordingly.

At this point in the project, focus on job categories, rather than individual resources. For example, how many software translators, online help translators, engineers, desktop publishers, or programmers are needed to complete the project successfully? The best way to determine this is to talk to the line managers responsible for the respective resources.

2.  RESOURCE ALLOCATION

Once the roles, skill sets, and responsibilities have been identified for the project, begin setting up a project team. Create an organization chart, listing all the roles defined in the previous section, and then assign names to each role.

In a typical scenario, translation activities are outsourced by localization vendors and performed in-country either by local offices, partners, or freelance translators. All other activities, such as engineering and desktop publishing, may either be performed incountry or centralized in one location, preferably the location where the project manager is based.

When setting up a team of linguistic and technical staff, focus on the following:

• Translation should always be performed by native speakers,preferably incountry.

• If multiple translators are working on the same project, assign one of them as project lead who will be responsible for terminology management, contacting the publisher or reviewer about linguistic issues,and ensuring stylistic consistency.

• Limit the number of translators working on a project as much as possible to maintain consistency.

• Find translators who have worked on similar projects or previous versions of the same product.

• Find the right mix between freelance and internal staff.

• A localization engineering team should ideally be a mix of people with linguistic and technical backgrounds.

• For engineering and DTP, assign the same person to work on a single task across all languages rather than assigning each language to different resources. This will ensure consistency across languages. If a mistake occurs in one language, it is likely to occur in others.

• It is not essential for engineering and DTP staff to be native speakers of the languages they are working with in the localized files. Knowing the language may even be a distraction from the task at hand, where their function is to engineer or format files for a localized product.

• Make sure all people working on the project track their hours accurately for each task completed. This will help to track the costs and clarify any deviations from the budget to the publisher.