Better Together: A Collaboration Checklist to Boost Language Quality Performance 

Language quality assurance works best when everyone works together.

A strong framework for collaboration is important when managing internal translation and quality assurance teams. But it’s even more vital if you outsource either or both of these functions to outside vendors.

Ready to improve your quality outcomes through better cooperation and teamwork? Use this handy checklist to take action—either on your own or by working with your language quality management (LQM) provider.

1. Define Roles and Responsibilities

Start by building a solid foundation with defined roles and responsibilities. That way, you can minimize confusion and hold everyone accountable. Your third-party LQM project manager can act as coordinator if you don’t fill the role internally.

• Designate a coordinator to streamline collaboration between your translators and language quality review team.
• Assign specific tasks and ownership to translators, quality reviewers, and project managers.
• Map out a detailed workflow for quality review and assessment, showing who’s responsible for each stage. 

2. Set Up Regular Touchpoints

Consistent touchpoints are the glue for cross-team collaboration. They keep everyone connected, enable quicker troubleshooting, and ensure everyone stays aware of the latest developments. The tempo is up to you. Weekly, biweekly, monthly—it all depends on the pace and volume of your translation workload.

• Begin your project with a kickoff meeting to align on expectations, workflows, and success metrics.
• Establish a regular touch-base call between translation and quality review team leaders.
• Schedule periodic cross-team meetings to review progress, address feedback, and discuss quality trends.
• Allocate agenda time to reviewing quality trends and evolution during quarterly business review sessions.

3. Break Down Communication Silos

When translation and language quality teams are walled off from each other, delays and misunderstandings pile up fast. Instead, keep everyone on the same page by creating a transparent, unified work environment. Build in paths for rapid troubleshooting, so problems get resolved quickly and projects stay on track.

• Use shared communication and collaboration platforms to encourage open, real-time dialogue.
• Dedicate specific channels or groups to address immediate queries and share updates.
• Provide clear instructions for escalating urgent challenges, including who to notify and how.

4. Build an Open Localization Tech Stack

Collaboration thrives when you have the right tools and platforms. Unfortunately, many Translation Management Systems (TMSes) struggle to handle advanced quality workflows. If you outsource translation, your language services provider (LSP) needs to be a partner in implementing open, flexible systems.

• Develop or adopt a flexible TMS that integrates easily with external language quality review tools.
• Consult your LQM team to understand what level of flexibility and access they need.
• Ask your LSP how it ensures interoperability with language quality tools, processes, and teams. 

5. Maintain Version Control for All Linguistic Assets

Cross-team work can hit a snag when there’s confusion over linguistic assets like glossaries and style guides. To ensure consistency and avoid mistakes, make sure everyone sees just one, up-to-date version for every document—so all team members are referring to the same source of truth.

• Store assets in a single, cloud-based repository that gives all team members access to the latest versions.
• Integrate glossaries directly into translation tools like CAT systems to flag discrepancies.
• Avoid manual updates by using systems that synchronize changes in real time.

6. Create a Collaborative Feedback Process 

The right process helps translators and reviewers work better together by keeping feedback clear and constructive. Fair, transparent arbitration settles disagreements while treating both sides with respect.

• Keep translators informed about quality performance with regular feedback reports.
• Reserve time in cross-team meetings to discuss feedback and ensure recommendations are properly internalized and implemented.
• Provide an easy way for translators to escalate linguistic disagreements. 
• Clarify who has the final word to resolve disputes and cut short debates.

7. Develop Interpersonal Relationships

Strong relationships build trust and promote collective problem-solving. Projects run more smoothly when all stakeholders—translators and quality reviewers included—feel they’re working together on the same team.

• Host short introductory sessions or casual meetups to help team members get to know one another.
• Set up a dedicated channel in your shared workspace for teams to share observations and insights.
• Highlight overall project successes to build trust and camaraderie.

8. Keep Improving How You Work

There’s always room to make things work better. By regularly reviewing workflows and gathering input from all teams, you can spot opportunities to improve cooperation and streamline teamwork.

• Review workflows regularly to find inefficiencies or bottlenecks.
• Update processes to include new tools and lessons learned.
• Ask all team members for feedback on how to improve collaboration.

Ready to Make Collaboration Your Strength? 

To start, identify a few areas from the list where you can make immediate improvements. Each small change will bring your teams closer to working like a well-oiled machine.

Wondering how third-party LQM can boost teamwork, efficiency, and quality outcomes for your localization program? Contact Beyont to learn how we can help you set up a seamless, collaborative workflow for language quality assurance.