Unrealistic Translation Project Schedules

When a client tells us they have a schedule target by a certain date we do our best to meet it. Unfortunately sometimes it’s just not possible.

In those cases the question becomes whether we disappoint the client with a proposed project schedule that doesn’t meet their target, or disappoint them when we make a promise for a delivery schedule that we subsequently can’t meet. Given these two choices, the latter is worse in our view.

On average professional human translators can competently process 2000-2500 source word per day. Time must also be allowed for proofreading by a second translator as well as formatting adjustments.

If we promise a delivery schedule that we can’t meet, we risk losing the client’s confidence for future projects. If we lose a particular project due to our inability to deliver a quality translation as fast as requested, we potentially lose that specific piece of business, but preserve the client’s confidence in our representations for potential other future projects.