TRANSLATIONS IN THE TIME OF PANDEMIC

The silver lining or how to remain optimistic during the actual global circumstances. Here are some ideas on what to do.

First of all, we hope you are all well and in good health. Now, more than ever, we are thinking of the people around us, realizing the importance of standing by one another, whether we are thinking of our families, our colleagues, or our partners.

We were caught off guard in a situation without precedent in recent times. We found ourselves separated from our dear ones, from our fellow workers. Some of us have completely changed our way of working. While we are not ignoring the difficulties we are facing in this period, we have chosen to take stock of the good parts, as we experienced them at The Department, in the management of our translation projects, translations in the time of pandemic. Because our reality is more than just this virus. The reality is that we continue to exist, to work, to joke with our colleagues, to be closer than ever to the ones around us, in spite of the physical distance which separates us.

Take a look at some of the positive aspects we have experienced during this time:

• Flexibility and streamlining of our way of working – in order to effectively manage working from home, especially when there are several members within the team, now is the time to introduce into the common procedure the instruments which can help you work more easily and more efficiently. Now, as well as in the future, whatever the future may look like;
• Developing the ability to plan  a day, to plan your time – in order to have the discipline of carrying through your daily tasks, with the same concentration. And also the discipline of taking the much-needed breaks;
• Diversifying, whether consciously or not, your people management techniques– so as to manage a remote team efficiently, as well as with empathy and support, against the current background;
• Eliminating paperwork – since in Romania we still need papers and stamps for certain translations, this is a welcome break. For us and for the planet, as well. Our hopes are that we will then see a change, namely getting rid of certain useless procedures;
• Spurring creativity – because we have to be creative and this seems to be an auspicious time. To keep our activities going, we have to come up with the most creative solutions. Or to make major changes in approaching the business. Now is the time to take stock of our priorities and skills and to reach major decisions, in order to strengthen what we have built so far. Needs change continually, and we have to keep up with them;
• Empathy and strengthening our relations – because we noticed that absolutely all our interactions with our clients and our external co-workers have been incredible in this period. Absolutely everyone has been more understanding, more considerate to the others. This testifies to the fact that we have surrounded ourselves with valuable people and that we are truly partners, for better or for worse;
• Specialization – because some of us may have the time to focus on improving our training, by taking classes which have always been on the to-do list and never became a priority;
• Clarity – because now is the time to take a step back and clearly establish our priorities. Flight-or-fight mode. This assumes having an overview, which is so necessary for decision-making and for a coherent strategy, whether you are a freelancer or representing a business;

Considering the above, we wanted to share some ideas on how you can better manage this situation:

1. Set up a clear budget. If your income has been affected, you should know what minimum average revenue you will be needing in the following months. Starting from there, make a list of all your expenses for this period. Check whether you can optimize some expenses.
   For instance: state aid that can be provided to you/negotiate a rent reduction. Ask for your accountant’s advice.
2. Make a list of everything else you might need to manage your activity as smoothly and as efficiently as possible. Check whether there are programs or other instruments which can help you and which you are not yet using:
   a. A cloud storage solution – One Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox etc.;
   b. Task organization and management – Trello;
   c. Migration to an email client for more efficient organization of your mail – Outlook;
   d. Cloud-based CAT Tool – Wordfast Anywhere, Memoq Cloud, Wordbee etc.;
   e. Streamlining communication within the team – Slack (you can connect with Trello, LeaveBoard, and many other useful programs) + Zoom (or other video-conferencing platforms).
3. Analyze your income statement and send out customized requests to the clients who have late payments, to make sure that they are supporting you in this period, confirming that they did not misplace the invoices and reminding them to pay the already-provided services.
4. Communicate with your clients, so that they may know that you are operational and that you are there to support them. Communicate empathetically and in a supportive manner. Now more than ever.
5. Conduct an analysis of your personal skills or of your team’s skills and set up a clear strategy applicable to this period. If your revenues have so far been based on conference interpreting or on interactions with the public, rethink the services you provide and make a change matching your strengths. Attend online classes, so that you may be prepared for the new approach.
6. Remember your plan to have a website? Or a website in the foreign language you translate into? Now is the perfect time to carry this plan to completion.
7. Invest time in having an overall view and a strategy. This is crucial.
8. Don’t forget about emotional support. Be kind to yourselves and to your team.

Translations in the time of pandemic – we remain optimistic, by your side,
Cristina Tohănean and the team.

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We have a small collection of articles on our blog, for your breaks from lists and work instruments. Two of these are on literary translations and creative writing – you can find them here.

Published on: 27.03.2020