A checklist for managing multilingual translation projects

Multilingual translation projects involve more than sending files back and forth. As the number of languages, formats and stakeholders grows, a clear project structure becomes essential.

Key questions at planning stage

Scope: Which languages, content types and delivery formats are in scope?
Schedule: What are the milestones, partial deliveries and final deadline?
Resources: Are terminology databases, reference documents and style guides available?
Roles: How will responsibilities and approval rights be shared among stakeholders?

Execution and tracking

Break the project into manageable tasks by language and content type.
Flag high risk areas such as legal sections, highly visual layouts or complex technical passages early.
Define clear stages for translation, review and desktop publishing.
Share status updates on a regular schedule with all relevant teams.

Post delivery review

Each multilingual project provides insights that can improve the next one.

Record client feedback in a structured way and group it by type of issue.
Review time, cost and quality indicators to identify bottlenecks.
Include terminology and translation memory updates as a mandatory closing step.