The Localization Manager's Team - If You're Lucky
How many of you out there in L10n-Blog land get support from other internal groups?
A long time ago my boss told me why it's important to be a complete zealot about localization, especially in an organization that is new to the process.
"For people in general and engineers in particular," he observed, "localization is interesting only once: The first time. After that, they're just humoring you."
I've kept that in mind as I take off like a street fighter with most clients, eager to ride the wave of novelty that accompanies the prospect of going global. Product managers brief me up one side and down the other, in-country partners promise to devote legions of in-house staff to testing the product the minute it's ready, and QA resources jump at the chance to configure localized test benches.
At the water-cooler level, employees want to connect me with their cousins who are studying French and would love to proofread the manuals, or with their former co-workers in Japan who would make excellent beta testers. Naturally, I diplomatically avoid these golden opportunities, but I appreciate how high spirits can run at the outset.
In time, though, product managers stop returning phone calls, in-country partners run out of time, and QA leads are unexpectedly besieged by other priorities. (In one memorable instance, after I had explained to the QA manager the relatively paltry need for a few machines and 10 person-hours of testing per week for 4 weeks, she replied, "Oh, we'll have no part of that," and walked away.)
It's not so tiresome when my task is simply to get a localized product out the door; in that case, I work things out on my own to achieve that goal, since I know the process from end to end. But if clients hire me to build teams and to put procedures in place for localization, the expectation is different, and people know it's an edict from above. I need stick and carrot for engagements like that. That's more like a, well, a job.
A long time ago my boss told me why it's important to be a complete zealot about localization, especially in an organization that is new to the process.
"For people in general and engineers in particular," he observed, "localization is interesting only once: The first time. After that, they're just humoring you."
I've kept that in mind as I take off like a street fighter with most clients, eager to ride the wave of novelty that accompanies the prospect of going global. Product managers brief me up one side and down the other, in-country partners promise to devote legions of in-house staff to testing the product the minute it's ready, and QA resources jump at the chance to configure localized test benches.
At the water-cooler level, employees want to connect me with their cousins who are studying French and would love to proofread the manuals, or with their former co-workers in Japan who would make excellent beta testers. Naturally, I diplomatically avoid these golden opportunities, but I appreciate how high spirits can run at the outset.
In time, though, product managers stop returning phone calls, in-country partners run out of time, and QA leads are unexpectedly besieged by other priorities. (In one memorable instance, after I had explained to the QA manager the relatively paltry need for a few machines and 10 person-hours of testing per week for 4 weeks, she replied, "Oh, we'll have no part of that," and walked away.)
It's not so tiresome when my task is simply to get a localized product out the door; in that case, I work things out on my own to achieve that goal, since I know the process from end to end. But if clients hire me to build teams and to put procedures in place for localization, the expectation is different, and people know it's an edict from above. I need stick and carrot for engagements like that. That's more like a, well, a job.
Labels: localiation QA, localization manager's team, localization team, product manager
posted by John White, Localization Guy at
10:43
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