Measuring Localization Complexity

Track: Advanced Localization Management | AL1 |
Thursday, October 27, 2016, 9:00am – 9:45am
Held in: Westmount
Presenters:
Karen Combe - Localization Institute 
Mimi Hills - Hillstra Associates
Host: Richard Sikes

Localization managers are caught in converging trends: localization automation is driving complexity down; a proliferation of agile development processes is driving complexity up; and management wants to make decisions informed by data. VMware and PTC localization teams implemented scorecards to manage project complexity. Project managers wanted to see scores go up to show they were being more efficient. Localization managers wanted to see scores go down to show automation driving efficiency. And upper management wanted to use data to trim budgets. Learn how they managed expectations to create a useful tool for measuring people and processes.

Takeaways: Localization managers need to understand and manage the complexity faced by their employees; as much as we need metrics to measure team success, we need to choose metrics based on intended audience and relevance; and understanding and managing the expectations of upper management is especially critical when work increases and budgets decrease.