Alignment Matters

Alignment to client goals seems pretty abstract when there is work to be done to make the deadline and a clear path forward.

For example, when a brief includes a requirement to support translation into unlimited languages it seems pretty clear that resource bundles need to be used. That master XML files will be delivered to translation and swapped at runtime or as needed.

But what if the client is bound to an agreement to send out the entire project for translation to a “preferred vendor”? What if the translation service knows nothing about resource bundles, or pretends not to in order to continue to make its forecast profit on billings for Flash-savvy translation services?

Well, that alignment thing becomes a painfully concrete when the PM realizes that they didn’t build in time to train the translation service to not touch the source. That the whole point is to NOT build n*languages source folders. That we aren’t ever going to get the XML containing the translated text. That we are completely out of the loop until everything falls apart and the blame for the disaster you don’t even know about comes in a plain text email.

And particularly acute when the promise of substantial savings on translation evaporates in a cloud of unpaid work for (and simultaneous accusations from) the translation service.