Russian translation finished

Where/when did you hear about PM²?

I first heard about this methodology in a talk given by a Turkish expert at the XVI International Scientific and Practical Conference “PM Kiev 2018” in Ukraine.

What do you like about PM² and why do you think it is important to have it translated into your language?

I like the fact that the methodology is written in simple, easy to understand language that does not scare future professionals who are starting out on their careers in project management. In addition, unlike the well-known classic methodologies, it does not require the user to familiarize themselves with a huge number of complex and hard to understand terms and definitions.

Our main incentive was the deeper understanding of the PM² methodology, techniques, principles and mindsets we would gain, but our goal was to help convey this knowledge to the local professional community in the form of a comprehensible methodology that was far more “user-friendly” than other “heavier” alternatives.

How difficult was it to find qualified volunteers for the translation?

To tell you the truth, it was anything but easy! I had never taken part in voluntary activities before this. Never! I had only read about such things. So, before all else, I had to convince myself of the feasibility of the undertaking, and then pass on this confidence to the members of my team. But the result made it all worthwhile: our courage made for a job well done.

Our local team consisted of five members: three experienced Project Managers, a Project Management Expert (IPMA level A), and a translator interested in developing their project management domain knowledge.

We decided to treat the translation of the PM² Overview into Russian as a project in its own right, allowing us to use most of the instructions, roles and processes described in PM².

A team was created, a Project Manager (PM) appointed, and a schedule for the project drawn up. In addition:

• all documents were stored on a cloud service platform so that all team members could have full access to them and work on them in parallel
• all the members took part in developing a glossary of English-Russian terms in that would help achieve consistency across the whole translation
• the translator provided a draft translation of the whole Guide divided into 3 equal parts
• based on their domain knowledge, the reviewers corrected the draft translation
• one of the team members was designated to review the translations of all diagrams and figures
• an expert reviewed and finalised the translation.

When did you start the translation and how long did it take? Can you estimate the person-hours spent?

We finished aligning the requirements for the translation with the coordinator within a few weeks. From then on, the work took about six months.

As the translation procedure had been planned in advance, we didn’t face any serious challenges, at least to start with. But, as is the case with almost every project, a few stumbling blocks presented themselves along the seemingly straight forward road of its implementation. However, we can report that the team successfully dealt with everything that came our way.

Finding the time to work on this project outside of work and family hours proved to be another challenge. It was hard to assign the project priority over other personal and family obligations, and managing the challenges was difficult, due to our lack of experience at working on volunteer projects of this sort.

We collaborated remotely and it is difficult to estimate the average number of hours put in per person. I think the figure is probably around 30–40 hours of effort each.

What feedback have you received so far about PM² and your translation in particular?

Our work hasn’t been accepted yet. And since the translation has not been published anywhere, we haven’t had any feedback.

What do you think is the future of PM²

That’s a very simple question for me: In Belarus and neighbouring Russia, many people do not speak or read foreign languages very well, so they do not have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with international standards and methodologies. Our small team and project gives them this opportunity and expands the range of knowledge available to them.

So why shouldn’t PM² become the seed that grows into a tree under which my Belarusian colleagues unite?

Russian Language Translation Team:

1. SOKOL Alexey (Translation Project Lead)
2. LUKIANOV Dmytro
3. MOJEY Christina                                  
4. PETKEVICH Alexandra
5. POLYAKOV Yury
6. KOUROUNAKIS Nicos (Coordinator)