Communication in the business environment matters a lot, whether between co-workers or a brand and its consumers.

A brand’s ability to establish effective and concise forms of communication between all stakeholders either locally or internationally comes with numerous benefits, which businesses must exploit.

That said, one way to ensure consistency in communication and ultimately your brand’s message is by effectively managing terminologies associated with your business.

So in this post, we would be looking at the substance of terminology management and better ways businesses can implement it.

What does terminology management mean?

Before delving into the meaning of terminology management, let us first be clear on what is terminology. In simple terms, it refers to a collection of vocabulary (words, terms, and phrases) usually utilized by an entity, industry or organization.

A typical example of terminology is how terms like Random Access Memory (RAM), Central Processing Unit (CPU), Hard-disk drive, and many others are associated with the computing niche.

But it does not end there, terminology does not only involve technical terms. It also involves brand names and trademarks.

Terminology management on the fundamental level refers to the process and procedures in managing (handling, editing and usage) terminologies related to a brand or organization, and it involves the following;

1. Collection of relevant terms, words and phrases.
2. Assigning definition and description to collected information
3. Validation of source information
4. Securing and storage of source information
5. Onboarding with relevant stakeholders
6. Updating terminology database

Why is it important?

Terminology management is relevant to organizations for several reasons, with the crux being improving communication for brands both internally and externally.

From the language perspective, TM helps create a more distinct brand message for the localization and eventual globalization process, and if done well, benefits both parties (Brands and LSP’s). For starters, it serves as the bedrock for a faster and more efficient workflow by reducing research time, and it even translates to cost savings for clients.

Industry leaders Lionbridge estimates that 15% of the total cost of translation is incurred due to rework, which is primarily caused by inconsistencies in terminologies. Proper terminology management eliminates these inconsistencies.

A multi-step approach

Our suggested approach starts with the assumption that your brand collects some terminologies in one form or another. Therefore these are merely recommendations that can make the process more efficient and effective.

●       Incorporate TM as early as possible

Is your brand launching a new product or messaging campaign? It is best to deploy terminology management during the conceptualization or developmental phase rather than it just being an afterthought. That way, adapting your content to other languages can occur seamlessly, and the deployment of future products to market is much faster.

●       Develop a robust termbase

Good terminology management involves the applicability and usefulness of your database. Hence, TM needs to be robust with; accurate translation to the scarce and target languages and other relevant descriptions. It can even go as far as including contextual data.

We also recommend that your database terminologies are well-organized to make them easy to use.

●       Adopt inclusivity between relevant stakeholders

Getting your brand’s message in the clearest possible way involves ensuring that every relevant stakeholder participates in the adaptation process. Besides a robust termbase, your database needs to be accessible to just about every relevant participant. In essence including everyone from your content creators to the translators and even your marketers.

●       Use the right tools

There goes a saying; “You are only as good as your tools”, which applies to terminology management. No matter how well thought out your process is, using the wrong tools can make your workflow inefficient and lethargic at best. A good practice is to ensure that you use a terminology management system that supports the best technologies and established standards.

●       Verify and re-verify

It is one thing to have a termbase but another for the termbase to be accurate in its information. Good terminology management involves verifying that terms, translations and descriptions in the termbase are correct and applicable to your brand. You can achieve this by carrying out quality assurance and other relevant control measures.

●       TM is a continuous process

In the end, brands must always remember that terminology management is not a one-time affair but rather should be a reoccurring activity especially, as your database continues to grow.