Vol. 74 February, 2007
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This month Account Manager Olga Pechnenko Kopp provides tips on project planning to decrease stress. She helps you plan and prepare for an ideal translation project scenario, arming you with useful information. Implementing any one of her suggestions will indeed improve process and outcome. In the “real world” of changing deadlines and external influences project planning for no stress execution may not be quite as easy as 1-2-3. But starting with a schedule and a goal in mind, preparing for the in-country review phase, and generally looking ahead can certainly help. Perhaps “stress free” truly can be achieved. It certainly is appealing to me because McElroy’s role is to own the project stress!
Setting project schedules and goals are critical, and Operations Manager Kim Vitray looks at goal setting from a broader perspective. She addresses the powerful positives of structured personal and organizational goal setting. Sure, we already know this, but Kim’s persuasive words encourage the next step - action!
Cheers for you as you (1) plan projects, (2) set goals and (3) de-stress!
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A step-by-step guide to a stress free job
by Olga Pechnenko Kopp
Does this sound familiar?
Your company has just developed a new idea for a new product. The product has passed the research phase, which required a considerable investment of time, people and money. Your company has calculated the developmental cost and developed a promotion plan. You, the product manager, know that all of your carefully crafted marketing copy, originally written in English, will require translation into all of the languages spoken in your company’s international target markets. Even though you fully understand the importance of this, the process of new product development has consumed all of your time. You’ve started the countdown for the release date of the new product and then you suddenly remember, “ooops, I forgot to translate the marketing and product information!”
How many languages were there again...? 10? 12? 21?
You are confident that your translation vendor will be able to complete all of the necessary translations in time—after all, there are only a few documents that need to be translated. So, you call your translation vendor’s account representative, and she tells you that it will take at least two weeks to complete the entire translation. “Why!?” you ask.
She tells you that those few documents you sent her contain approximately 20K words, and your project will require extensive rewrites due to its heavy use of marketing jargon. You don’t understand—how is it possible? You decide to call a few other translation vendors, and they give you the same answer. You start to panic because it looks like the product will not be released on time, and you are going to be responsible for the delay.
Shall we rewind?
Let’s rewind this potential nightmare and see if you could have a less stressful time dealing with THOSE translations. Below you will find a step by step guide to a stress free translation project into multiple languages.
Let’s say you have a 20K word marketing project. A translator can translate, on average, 1500 words/day. This will require 13 working days for the translation itself. Add an additional 2-3 days for editing. Include at least one business day for project management and QA. For a translation project of this size and type, allow for at least 17 business days. Of course, each project is unique and requires an individual analysis.
- Start thinking ahead. Translation is performed by humans and they will need some real time to work on your project. Note the formula at the right to see how the size of the projects affects the delivery.
- Write your copy with an international audience in mind. Have your technical and marketing writers create copy that has consistent terminology and avoids complicated sentence structure. Translators will be able to finish your project in an accurate, timely fashion if the meaning you are trying to convey is clear.
- Involve your translation vendor at the first stages of the project. Contact your translation vendor as soon as you know some translation will be involved in your project and give her the approximate date of the release, the target locales, the anticipated volume of words, etc. The more detailed information you can provide about the project, the better she can help you.
Read more...
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“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Love must be as much a light as it is a flame.”
Henry David Thoreau
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I am in a new role at McElroy Translation as Project Support Specialist, focusing on translator recruitment, performance assessment, CAT tools management and other technical issues in support of Translation Coordination. I came to McElroy from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, where I maintained the constituent database and contributed to web site content updates.
I was born and raised in Austin, TX and earned a B.A. in Economics at The University of Texas. I worked my way through school working at a movie theatre chain, ending up as a Head Projectionist at the now defunct Arbor Cinema in Austin. After graduating from college, I began an MBA program at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State), but quickly realized that business school wasn’t really for me. While working as a teller at a bank, and looking for new jobs, I noticed an abundance of jobs with names like System Analyst. A friend directed me to the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at UT and I graduated with an MLIS degree in 1996, right in the middle of the explosion of this thing called the Internet.
I began working in IT before graduating at a company called Weissmann Travel Reports. Weissmann published mini travel guides on countries and cities throughout the world, mostly relying on trusted freelance correspondents from those areas. Internal editors then put the data into the desired format and voice. The reports were sold directly to travel agents in a software package that was updated monthly. I worked on website content, network administration and software technical support. I learned a lot about the publishing world and geography. The experience piqued my interest in travel and began my philosophy of taking a world view of life, rather than a US-centric view.
In 2001, I began working for the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) as SQL Server Database Administrator. I did my best to help raise the profile and fundraising efforts of the organization. My colleagues and I increased grassroots fundraising from $1 million per year in 2001 to nearly $8 million per year in 2005. Overall, the LAF grew from a $5 million organization to a $60 million organization (you may have seen those little yellow wristbands). We also grew from a staff of 10 to a staff of 60. But the best part of working in an organization like that is the satisfaction you feel from genuinely making a difference in the lives of people affected by cancer. Cancer had directly affected my family, so working with the Foundation was personal as well as professional. And it finally afforded me the chance to partake in some world travel. Among other destinations, I was able to go to France with friends and colleagues to see some stages of the Tour de France in 2002 and in 2004, the year when Lance set the record of winning 6 Tour de France titles in a row. I was fortunate enough to go on a bike ride with Lance and four other friends in Austin, and attended memorable, once-in-a-lifetime events at a couple of Lance’s homes.
I am a confirmed bachelor and spend my spare time taking care of my beautiful and rambunctious 7-year-old chocolate lab called Mocha. I also ride my Trek 2200 aluminum frame bike, though not as much as I should. The weather in Austin is well suited for year-round cycling and the nearby hills make for some challenging, fulfilling, cardio-pounding rides. I sometimes go running but prefer a good hike at some Texas Hill Country parks and at Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains in West Texas. And there aren’t many better things to do than to lay on a beach with a good book (unless your dog insists that you play with her in the water).
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Olga Pechnenko Kopp, our Oil and Gas accounts manager, briefly interviewed one of her clients for some current takeaways for anyone wanting to do business in Norway, from an Oil and Gas industry perspective. This is followed by more in-depth information about the Oil and Gas industry in Norway, and then we wrap things up with our usual brief notes on business cultural etiquette.
- A new trend in the oil industry is the rapid increase of new small independent oil companies.
- Until a few years ago we had approximately 20 oil companies in Norway, all major companies and two-three Norwegian including Statoil, the state oil company.
- Now that the Norwegian shelf has matured, the big companies are losing some of their interest and many small independent companies get in here to pick up the “left-overs." Also a lot of small Norwegian companies are formed by people who leave the big companies, hoping they will make a fortune with some exploration licenses. Many of those smaller companies will have limited staff and will have to buy external services third party vendors.
- I (like to) think the Norwegians are honest and easy to work with. Everybody speaks English as their second language. Americans will often perceive us as being a bit rude, because we don't emphasize the importance of using as many polite phrases as an American would.
- Norway English is the “official” language of the oil industry and therefore the official language of an oil and gas company. I think it is common for larger oil and oil service companies to have technical writers (often from the UK or USA) on staff to make sure main publications are done properly. We used to contract the service before, but now we have a full time writer.
A knowledge society
Within the span of just a few decades, Norway has been transformed from a natural resource-based economy to a knowledge society. The Norwegian business sector works to develop cost-effective, environmentally-sound and technologically-advanced solutions, to increase industrial productivity and enhance efficiency. A focus on R&D activities and joint ventures with foreign companies has promoted the development of new areas of national expertise, including software and communications technology, space-related technology, the engineering industry, and biotechnology.
Foreign trade
Norway exports about 40 percent of the goods and services it produces, while imports make up around one-third of its GDP. Norway’s core markets include the Nordic region and Europe, although certain products, like oil, gas, minerals and seafood, are successfully marketed worldwide. Although Norway is not a member of the European Union (EU), its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA) secures it full access to the EU’s internal market. The EU presently accounts for some three-quarters of Norway’s foreign trade.
The petroleum sector
The petroleum industry is very important to Norway. The industry accounts for a third of state income (2005 figures). Around 80,000 people are employed by petroleum-related businesses, and the knock-on effects on other industries are considerable. Norway is the world’s third-largest exporter of oil and gas. In the 2006 national budget, the value of remaining petroleum reserves on the Norwegian continental shelf was estimated at NOK 4,210 billion. Less than a third of Norway’s estimated petroleum reserves have been extracted. There is a very high level of activity on the Norwegian continental shelf. In 2005, 250 million standard cubic meters of oil equivalents were produced. This equates to the annual consumption of more than 100 million Norwegian households.
Successfully doing business in Norway
Business meetings and negotiations
Pre-meeting preperations
- Appointments should be set up well in advance.
- Intermediaries are less important to set up initial contacts and securing the deal than in many other cultures.
- Dress conservatively – at least until the host opens up for an open-shirt dress code.
- Be punctual. If you are only a few minutes late for a business meeting, call your counterpart and explain the delay.
Start of meeting
- Shake hands with everyone in the room when you arrive and before you leave.
- Start out the meeting by suggesting the time frame for the meeting.
- Exchange of business cards follows after an initial small talk.
- Business people are not addressed by their titles. Norwegians and Danes are generally less formal than Germans and Swedes and address each other rather informally. First names are used less than in the US, so let your counterpart set the stage for how to address each other.
- Norwegians are direct and do not focus on rituals and social environments for the negotiations. In the initial meeting Norwegians are ready to talk business after only a few minutes of small talk. During business meetings Norwegians are straightforward and direct.
- Norwegians use steady, moderate eye contact - less direct than Arabs and Latins but more direct than Japanese and Asians.
Presentation and negotiation tactics
- There is little secrecy about corporate objectives and strategies and your counterpart will normally be able to see your product in the strategic perspective of his company. Although top managers make the decisions they will be very reluctant not to endorse the recommendations of project groups or lower managers.
- Norwegian companies are generally willing to pay for quality. They are also willing to switch suppliers to get better terms or better quality.
- You need to build trust. Bring a good business presentation. Emphasize facts, benefits and profitability during your presentation. It may be wise to give an honest impression by even pointing out certain weaknesses/disadvantages. Your personality and social skills are of some initial importance but of little importance when decisions are made.
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From InttraNews
Translation and Localization is the McElroy “Raison d’Etre.” We are in the business of appreciating the nuances of dialects as we help clients communicate globally. This article from InttraNews is a great example of how rich and varied dialects can be. This article even suggests that the “The Concise Dictionary of Scottish Words and Phrases” is a good read that will give you a chuckle. Oh my!
Edinburgh, Scotland (Scotsman): Discerning tourists may have some awareness of the fact the Highlands of Scotland have a language of their own, Gaelic, that is completely different from English. “However, if they think about the language of lowland Scotland at all, they probably assume this is more or less English with, perhaps, a few dialectal differences.” Wrong!
For more information, please visit:
http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=49862007
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McElroy’s Mission Statement
McElroy Translation provides translation and localization services in all languages to business and government clientele enhancing their ability to compete in global markets.
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