How I Find Good Resources for my Bilingual Scrum Teams
My team is Japanese and my books are in English.
This challenge is all too familiar for bilingual mentors, educators, and coaches. Not too long ago, our options were limited, leaving us with the choice to give up or painstakingly create everything from scratch.
Now we live in an era where all the world’s knowledge is at our fingertips. In other words, it’s an exciting time to tackle this kind of problem head-on!
Let’s look at three ways I get around the language barrier without creating all of my own materials from scratch.
#1: Ask an AI
AI language tools like Phind (https://www.phind.com/), which link all of its sources for each session, can be a treasure trove. I have had so much success with using AI to identify book titles, YouTube channels, and articles in my target language. A recent Phind update even embeds links! This works especially well when looking for graphics and other visuals. Using AI has already become the fastest and most reliable way to expand our toolset. I recommend this method if time is of the essence because it’s relatively low effort for quick turnaround. Two caveats I have found to using AI for this are:
-You need to verify that the information is correct
-It can be hard to get concrete results for more obscure topics
Tip:
In my experience so far, AI shine best when searching for common knowledge or well-circulated content. Be as specific as possible in your initial AI prompt and continue to tweak it to find the level of specificity you want.
Here is the first iteration of phind. I recommend having the following in your initial prompt:
-What you are looking for in as much detail as possible
-Why you want it (what outcome do you hope to achieve with it)
These two important details help the AI narrow down resources that fit your goal and context.
For the second iteration I was more specific and kept important words (“agile, Japanese”) to help it stay on track. I think it delivered!
The future is bright for AI and though it may someday overshadow these next two methods, here are some options for what to do when AI isn’t quite there yet.
#2: Dive into the Source
Sometimes, the key to finding what you need lies within the very source that created it. Explore the websites of authors, publishers, and content creators. You’ll often discover that they’ve already addressed requests for translations or alternative language versions. You can take it a step further by reaching out directly through their “Contact Us” feature.
Even if they haven’t officially translated their materials, they may have leads on others who have. This method not only adds credibility to the content you source from but also provides your audience with a valuable resource they can revisit in the future. Be aware, though, that this approach may require some patience as you wait for responses.
Tip:
You can generally expect a faster response by reaching out directly on social media platforms. LinkedIn, twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even TikTok are faster than email in most cases. Don’t be afraid to reach out! Here’s a short example of a message I have sent.
“Hi (Name),
My name is Andrea and I am an agile coach working in Japan. I have read your book, (Title), and gotten a lot of value out of it. I am currently working with an all-Japanese team and want to share what I’ve learned from your book directly. Have there been any Japanese translations of the above material or are there any plans to do so?Thank you for your time.
Warm regards,
Andrea”
These first two methods work great when you want to get as close to the source as possible or pull from a well-spring of common knowledge. But what do you do when you’re looking for something a little bit more out-of-the-box? That’s where this final method has saved me many headaches!
#3: Tap into Message Boards
Ever typed a question into a search engine and stumbled upon message boards like Yahoo Answers, Reddit, or Quora? These virtual communities are a goldmine of obscure knowledge. Often, they appear in the first few pages of search results, indicating that others have faced similar challenges.
Spending time exploring these message boards can feel like discovering buried treasure after hours of fruitless searching elsewhere. While it may require more effort, message boards are particularly valuable when seeking niche materials. If you have the time, I recommend falling down a rabbit hole of a message board in your target language at least once. Just make sure to verify the accuracy of the information you find before taking it to your team, as some may be outdated/obsolete.
Tip:
One area where my personal life bleeds into my work life is my relationship with Reddit. When searching for specific information or materials I tack “reddit” to the end of my search engine query. Reddit has smaller communities (called subreddits) that collect niche thoughts, materials, and content, and because there are so many of them you can often explore the same topic from completely different viewpoints.
As an example, I looked up resources to be used for a beginner’s scrum workshop in the following subreddits:
r/agile
r/scrum
r/dataengineering
r/projectmanagement
r/japanlife
By applying these three methods, you’ll break through language barriers that you once thought impenetrable. The age of technology is here so instead of making your own materials from scratch, try any or all of these and see what you can uncover!
