Looking for suggestions on how to improve quality of translation team
Thread poster: Shah Aleem
Shah Aleem
Shah Aleem
English to Japanese
+ ...
Apr 13, 2021

Hi,

I have been leading a team of Japanese>English translators since some years now. I have also been running an inhouse training program to keep their skills up to date. This involves monthly assignments that are reviewed and the key/common gaps are discussed in a 1-2 hr team call.

However, unfortunately this approach has not been very effective, and the team members have also not shown much interest.

Hence, I was wondering where any of you here are in a p
... See more
Hi,

I have been leading a team of Japanese>English translators since some years now. I have also been running an inhouse training program to keep their skills up to date. This involves monthly assignments that are reviewed and the key/common gaps are discussed in a 1-2 hr team call.

However, unfortunately this approach has not been very effective, and the team members have also not shown much interest.

Hence, I was wondering where any of you here are in a position to suggest any interesting or innovative ways to conduct a similar inhouse program that could yield better results?

Any response would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Warm Regards,
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Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 10:10
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
My experience Apr 13, 2021

I worked in-house for 20 years with a team of 14 translators. At a certain point in time our boss decided to have a weekly meeting to discuss translation problems. This proved to be ineffective because we all translated into European Portuguese from different source languages and we had very different backgrounds (4 language teachers, 4 economists, 4 lawyers, 1 medical doctor, 2 translators). What could be a problem for one person didn't apply necessarily to the rest of the team. So it was decid... See more
I worked in-house for 20 years with a team of 14 translators. At a certain point in time our boss decided to have a weekly meeting to discuss translation problems. This proved to be ineffective because we all translated into European Portuguese from different source languages and we had very different backgrounds (4 language teachers, 4 economists, 4 lawyers, 1 medical doctor, 2 translators). What could be a problem for one person didn't apply necessarily to the rest of the team. So it was decided to split the team into small thematic groups which met whenever necessary. This proved to be very effective.Collapse


Ying-Ju Fang
 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
Are you paying them for their time? Apr 14, 2021

I'd be reluctant to get involved in unpaid training sessions and one- to two-hour phone calls, unless you were passing huge amounts of work my way. Are you sure all this is necessary?

neilmac
Philippe Etienne
Endre Both
Jorge Payan
IrinaN
Natalia Pedrosa
 
Elena Feriani
Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 11:10
Member
French to Italian
+ ...
Quality checks? Apr 14, 2021

Hi Shah,

A client of mine implemented quality checks that they conduct using a third-party provider and they have translators with lower scores fix their issues every month. Translators with higher scores just receive the list of issues but don't need to provide the correct version and translators with consistent higher scores will achieve "Senior status" and will get more work.
A little bit harsh, but it works for me.

Edit: For an in-house team you will need to f
... See more
Hi Shah,

A client of mine implemented quality checks that they conduct using a third-party provider and they have translators with lower scores fix their issues every month. Translators with higher scores just receive the list of issues but don't need to provide the correct version and translators with consistent higher scores will achieve "Senior status" and will get more work.
A little bit harsh, but it works for me.

Edit: For an in-house team you will need to find another type of incentive, of course.

[Edited at 2021-04-14 05:46 GMT]
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Ying-Ju Fang
 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 11:10
German to Swedish
+ ...
Horror Apr 14, 2021

1-2 hour team call about translation? Good grief, that sounds horribly tedious. I'd do anything to get out of it even if I was paid for my time.

A monthly newsletter with common issues, very short, should be enough.

Also, any translator who doesn't learn from their change-tracked review files has an attitude problem.


Tom in London
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Kevin Fulton
Jorge Payan
Maciek Drobka
philgoddard
Marcus König
 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:10
Member (2008)
Italian to English
"I want to be alone" said Greta Garbo Apr 14, 2021

After many years in my "other life" working as part of a team, I was very glad to get away from having to negotiate everything with other people, and the politics of it, to working alone as a translator.

I would not want to work as part of a team of translators. It would the exact opposite of the way I like to work now.


Gerard Barry
Jorge Payan
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Nikki Scott-Despaigne  Identity Verified
Local time: 11:10
French to English
Japanese to English Apr 14, 2021

A brief suggestion that you might like to correct "I have been leading... since some years" to "for some years".

Tom in London
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maciek Drobka
philgoddard
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 11:10
French to English
. Apr 14, 2021

It's not crystal clear, but I'm going to assume the translators are all working in-house.

Just how necessary is it to work on improving quality? If they're all producing shoddy work, I'd say your problem is in the hiring and firing. Poor translators should not be hired in the first place, so you need to screen shoddy workers out when hiring by way of tests. However, people who've been consistently producing shoddy work for years are probably not going to improve unless their job is
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It's not crystal clear, but I'm going to assume the translators are all working in-house.

Just how necessary is it to work on improving quality? If they're all producing shoddy work, I'd say your problem is in the hiring and firing. Poor translators should not be hired in the first place, so you need to screen shoddy workers out when hiring by way of tests. However, people who've been consistently producing shoddy work for years are probably not going to improve unless their job is on the line, so you could introduce performance improvement plans, including reviews of their work, warnings and ultimately firing those who can't pull themselves up by the bootstraps or by looking back at the training sessions they've had up to now.

If it's not that drastic, then you simply need to have their work reviewed, recurring issues pinpointed, and then further reviews to check that improvements have been made. Peer review, with the translator and proofreader discussing any corrections that are not obvious, is the best way forward, provided the proofreader refrains from petty corrections, and that the translator is willing to listen when their mistakes are pointed out*. This was how we used to work when I was an in-house translator, and we were all able to learn from one another. There was just a small problem when junior staff had to review the work of senior staff, in that they didn't dare correct translators senior to them. I solved that problem by telling the junior staff I had introduced a few errors on purpose, so they had to find at least two before reporting back to me.

*Failure to acknowledge mistakes would also be considered a fire-able offence because it's impossible to review the work of a person who thinks they're perfect.

There may be a case or two of complacency setting in. I could feel this happening to me, but then when I started to teach at the school where I got my master, the students were eager to challenge me, and shook me right out of my rut. A complacent senior might have the same reaction if you were to ask them to train junior staff, then again they might just see it as an opportunity to bully everyone into doing everything their way (like a colleague of mine who had been bullied into never using certain words like "concrete", she was that scared of the guy she'd worked under previously, she still clung to his stupid rules even though she was now working with me).

Most of all, staff need to be motivated. Are they being paid enough to care?
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Zibow Retailleau
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Mervyn Henderson (X)
 
Arianne Farah
Arianne Farah  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 06:10
Member (2008)
English to French
I love this! Apr 14, 2021

Kay Denney wrote:

There was just a small problem when junior staff had to review the work of senior staff, in that they didn't dare correct translators senior to them. I solved that problem by telling the junior staff I had introduced a few errors on purpose, so they had to find at least two before reporting back to me.


Such a simple and elegant solution!

Otherwise, the workflow Elena suggested is the one I see most commonly when quality control is an issue and you don't have a stable and reliable team.


Kay Denney
 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 06:10
Member (2005)
Chinese to English
A few questions Apr 14, 2021

Shah Aleem wrote:
This involves monthly assignments that are reviewed and the key/common gaps are discussed in a 1-2 hr team call.


Do you give them monthly assignments specially for training purposes? If so, do they use staff time or their own time to finish these assignments? If these translators work inhouse, why do you need a "team call"? I think it will be easier and more effective to have them meet in a conference room.

[Edited at 2021-04-14 22:34 GMT]


 
Mervyn Henderson (X)
Mervyn Henderson (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 11:10
Spanish to English
+ ...
@Kay Apr 15, 2021

Errors on purpose. Smart one! That gets them thinking.

 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Salary or piece rates? Apr 15, 2021

If they are on salary, you need either performance bonuses, punitive action for underperformers, or both.

Else NOBODY is gonna care. Ever.

Managerial meetings are pure facepalm-ey cringe, unless and until large financial incentives enter the equation.

In that case, depending on how well you implement it, they'll either fake it for your pleasure or actually become somewhat interested.


PS could also be a bias thing. Maybe they aren't takin
... See more
If they are on salary, you need either performance bonuses, punitive action for underperformers, or both.

Else NOBODY is gonna care. Ever.

Managerial meetings are pure facepalm-ey cringe, unless and until large financial incentives enter the equation.

In that case, depending on how well you implement it, they'll either fake it for your pleasure or actually become somewhat interested.


PS could also be a bias thing. Maybe they aren't taking you seriously because of your name and appearance. Sorry... but it's a thing. Non-native speakers (or people who don't look like they would be native speakers) are often forced to "establish competence" before being taken seriously.

[Edited at 2021-04-15 14:41 GMT]

[Edited at 2021-04-15 14:42 GMT]

[Edited at 2021-04-15 14:44 GMT]
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Jorge Payan
 
Adieu
Adieu  Identity Verified
Ukrainian to English
+ ...
Other popular barriers Apr 15, 2021

Top thoughts that may occur in translators getting a talking-to about quality:

1) Are they paying me enough to ask for improvement?

2) Is this person ACTUALLY my sorta-boss, or just under the mistaken impression that he is?
2.1.) Is this real, or is this showy pretend effort by a not-boss to demonstrate that he is actually doing something to justify his salary?
2.2.) Do I want this person to succeed, or do I want to make him look really really bad so they st
... See more
Top thoughts that may occur in translators getting a talking-to about quality:

1) Are they paying me enough to ask for improvement?

2) Is this person ACTUALLY my sorta-boss, or just under the mistaken impression that he is?
2.1.) Is this real, or is this showy pretend effort by a not-boss to demonstrate that he is actually doing something to justify his salary?
2.2.) Do I want this person to succeed, or do I want to make him look really really bad so they stop wasting a share of my money on his unjustified existence?

3) Is this person qualified to be saying what he is saying?

4) Is the way this person is talking to me respectful enough of me, my time, and my profession to make me want to listen?

5) Why should I care? (Hint: insert financial incentive to fix)



[Edited at 2021-04-15 15:02 GMT]
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Looking for suggestions on how to improve quality of translation team







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