How will the translation be done? Of course, translation is done by translators, but if you look at the process from request to delivery*, several people are working for the common goal of “translation.” Just as they say that it takes a whole town to raise a child, it also takes a lot of effort to complete a translation project. *: Looking through (what a person) thoroughly examines (what a person is).
If the client has a translator they know well, a direct transaction is concluded between the client and the translator. However, in general, a request is made to a translation company. Also, in translation companies, translators perform the actual translation under the management of the responsible PM. It seems that the client only needs to make a request and receive the results, but since they must answer questions from the translator during the translation process and provide additional information, it can actually be said that they participate in the translation together.
Among them, translators and translation PMs have a very special relationship. It's different from a typical boss/subordinate relationship, and it's not a relationship between a celebrity and a manager, but it's not a business-to-business relationship. A translation PM belongs to a translation company, but sometimes represents the company and sometimes the translator. It's hard to define in a nutshell what the relationship between translators and translation PMs is formed around the single goal of “translation.”
But they both want one thing. Successfully completing a given translation project is providing translation results that clients can be satisfied with. To this end, they join forces and sometimes argue. Since translation is also a human job, the quality level of translation results varies depending on how well the translator and PM cooperate and how much they trust each other.
What is a translation PM for translators It is a person who actually delivers translation requests, in other words, makes pleasant contacts such as work requests. In the translation process, we also receive and deliver answers to questions or areas requiring confirmation from clients. So basically, most of the messages you get from translation PMs are good news. On the other hand, there may be unwelcome contacts from the translator's point of view, such as corrections and comments on the results, but this is an essential process for better results. Above all else, the reason translators have no choice but to trust translation PMs is that they act as spokespersons for adjusting clients' unreasonable demands.
If a translator can focus entirely on translation, it is because the translation PM acts as an appropriate mediator between the client and the translator. Translation PMs are the only people who can ask a client to give their phone number to talk directly to the translator, and those who can talk about things such as rates and delivery dates that can be difficult for translators to speak directly.
If so, what is a translator for a translation PM? It depends on the size of the project, but usually one PM is responsible for multiple translators. To be more precise, I'm responsible for several translation projects. Therefore, you have to communicate with translators several times a day for a single translation project. It takes a lot of time just to check the delivery schedule and work progress, and it is often exhausting to resolve clients' requests and translator questions that change along the way.
Whenever a client's request is forwarded to a translator or a translator's question is forwarded to the client (especially when requesting a response as soon as possible), the translation PM feels somewhat sorry for both parties and waits for a reply. It can sometimes be difficult to ask for the understanding of a translator close to you, but in the end, you have to fully trust the translator.
As you can see, the difficulties and concerns felt by translators and translation PMs are slightly different. However, since they are people moving forward with the same goals, consensus is bound to be formed. Even though it is the closest but at the same time the most difficult relationship, the relationship between translators and translation PMs is maintained because they have mutual understanding and consideration. The more you know this, the more difficult it is to define the complex and subtle relationship between translators and translation PMs in one word. Therefore, I will continue to take a closer look at the relationship between translators and translation PMs whenever I have the opportunity. What are they really thinking?
*This content has been transferred from Gicon Studio to Letterworks.
