By Markus Spsike We all strive to better ourselves as professionals and to be leaders within the translation industry in order to improve our businesses and personal brand. In this article, I will highlight the importance of emotional intelligence skills in your daily work and when working within a team. For me, it is a must-have, and mastering emotional intelligence can improve your professional and personal life.  First, let’s explore why emotional intelligence is important in a business environment. Emotional intelligence is defined as the capacity to control, express one's emotions, handle and be aware of interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. It sounds just like what you would look for in a manager or senior team member, a leader who will be able to guide and improve a team’s performance. Some of these responsibilities include decision-making, coaching, mentoring, developing the team's skills and managing conflict, to name a few. Emotional intelligence...

Recruiting freelance translators is easy. Outsourcing work to freelance translators is easy. Paying freelance translators is easy. But what about recruiting, outsourcing and paying other translation companies?  By Christina@Wocintechchat In an ideal world, a database would be 20% freelance translators and 80% translation companies. It would make things so much easier! Project Managers could allocate entire projects to one supplier, without worrying about splitting files, coordinating deliveries, lengthy quality checks etc. Unfortunately, that is not how it usually happens in the real world. Working with translation companies can get very messy and stressful for a Project Manager. A small mistake can leave you with thousands of words untranslated the day before the deadline. It is true that this can also happen when working with freelancers, but the amount of work allocated to a freelancer is usually much smaller.  While working at Xerox, I resourced a job to a company that dea...

One of the key responsibilities of a Vendor Manager is to manage their database. The database is composed of thousands of profiles, one for each supplier. Each profile will contain information such as the supplier’s contact details, services, rates, competencies, performance, tasks performed and all the paperwork required.  Being the main point of reference for project managers when assigning work, the information within the database must be as up to date and accurate as possible. This way, projects can be assigned to suitable suppliers, and Vendor Managers can easily spot any supplier gaps.  The database is constantly changing, not only as suppliers evolve, but also as client’s requirements change. From my experience, the database must be flexible in order to suit any unexpected projects and new clients. This is where you can test whether your database, and by extension, your Vendor Management team, is “proactive” or “reactive”.  A reactive database can be defined as a d...

The first six months of this pandemic have been a time of discovery and change for me in all aspects of my life. I have learned that the mind is the strongest asset we have, and being able to control it can change your life. However, the pandemic is still here, and we are still suffering its consequences, such as working from home, self-isolation, lack of personal contact etc.  While self-isolating at my friend’s house for two weeks, I overheard a training session she was attending about tips on how to cope with uncertainty, and how to support your teammates through the pandemic. It was very interesting, so I took some notes to share with all of you here. There are three powerful strategies for coping with uncertainty that we can all apply in our daily lives: reframing your thoughts, taking control of your situation and taking care of yourself. By Colton Sturgeon. Let’s start with reframing your thoughts. This refers to the different ways in which you can order your thoughts, welco...

While browsing the Internet, I came across a list of attributes that a successful Vendor Manager should have, and I found it very interesting. Some of these skills are also important for other roles, but I find them especially important for any role within the translation vendor management field.  👋Excellent communication skills👋 Vendor Managers need to communicate with different parties: teammates, colleagues, suppliers and clients. Being the administrator of the database gives the Vendor Manager a lot of knowledge about the company’s suppliers (or what is missing), so they are the best people to answer their colleagues' questions. For example, when the sales team wants to check the number of resources the company has for certain language combinations, or when project managers can't find a suitable supplier for their job. 😀Ability to develop and maintain strong and successful working relationships😀 This is one of the main duties of the Vendor Manager. Recruiting suppliers ...

A company's database is one of their most valuable assets. Therefore, the relationship between the LSP and their suppliers is key to the success of the supply chain. Establishing and developing these relationships is one of the main responsibilities of the Vendor Manager.  In every relationship, we need to take into account each party's power. The matrix below will help the Vendor Manager assess the effectiveness and strength of the company's database by taking into account each party’s interest in the collaboration and the translation market. This analysis will split the database into four main groups:  Key suppliers – Supplier dominance This group should include the company's go-to suppliers. The people that the company can always rely on, who work with their most important clients and who generally deliver quality translations. The supplier should receive a large amount of work from the company, and have worked with them on a long-term basis to qualify for this group...

While at university, I attended a short course on protocol and etiquette. I can’t remember much about it except that the teacher was absolutely hilarious, and that I enjoyed the subject a lot. After sorting through my university notes, I found the notes I took at the time, and I wanted to share them here.  Protocol is understood as a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed in formal situations. It is a way to institutionalise public and private events, describing the behaviour and procedures to be followed during these events. The reason why I find it so interesting is because protocol rules are based on the relationship between the different parties attending the event. When used within a business environment, it conveys the company’s values, philosophy and image to the other party. Therefore, it can be used as a way to consolidate the reputation of the company among its employees and clients alike. It can be used as a tool to build and devel...

Keeping your suppliers engaged can be tricky. They may be too busy, or not very interested in engaging with your company. Coming up with new and interesting content can also be difficult. However, in order to keep your suppliers interested in working with your company (apart from being a good client), I would like to give you some recommendations you may want to try. Social media group I got this idea from the GALA blog, where the author talked about her experience of using a Facebook group as a way to engage with her company’s suppliers. While working for Webcertain, I took the idea and created a Facebook profile through which suppliers could interact with employees of the company. I posted industry news, company-related news and pictures of company events. It helped boost the company’s brand among our current suppliers and their immediate connections, as well as strengthen the company’s relationship with their suppliers. Achievement certificates I absolutely love this idea, and try t...

I would like to share with you the seven main attributes a Vendor Manager wants to see when working with freelance translators, as well as the language combination and subject area. (No, "cheap rates" is not one of them!)  Good time management: All clients expect their vendor to meet all project deadlines. If this is not possible, I would advise the translator to reject the task, and wait for the next offer. Missing a deadline will discourage the LSP from sending the translator additional work, but rejecting an offer won't affect their chances of getting project offers in the future. Time management and multitasking are skills that can be easily learned and adapted to your way of working. Understanding the LSP's process and hierarchy: Addressing the wrong person and replying to the wrong email thread when contacting an LSP could mean your message never reaches the intended receiver or is not understood correctly. Make sure you know who is who to ensure the quickest re...

In the translation industry, negotiation is sometimes a daily practice; vendor managers negotiate with potential suppliers, project managers negotiate with freelance translators and clients negotiate with LSPs to get the best deal possible.  I used to be the kind of person who shied away from negotiating at all costs. I felt uncomfortable and overpowered when trying to negotiate. That is why, in 2017, I attended a short negotiation course, and I realised that everyone in the room that day had the same problem as me. This course taught me some basic principles, so that I was able to build   my negotiation skills at my own pace. The truth is that the more you negotiate, the better you get at it.  In my opinion, preparing for a negotiation is key in order to get the best outcome. What could you do to prepare for a negotiation?  Learn as much as you can about the person/company you are going to talk to.  Think about the relationship you have...

Translation Vendor Management Group

                                               Now is a time of great change in the world, and in business. Many companies will need to re-invent themselves, people will change careers, and others will continue as before. Workload is always somewhat uncertain in our industry, but I think it will fluctuate more than usual during the next six months. Are you already seeing any trends among your clients? Is it time to diversify your books? Have you considered working for clients in a different time zone? Here is your chance. Agencies will be looking to recruit new translators, and freelancers will be looking for new clients. The start of a new partnership is always exacting, but it can also be a period of adaptation, to ensure both partners can (and will) work smoothly together. I would like to highlight five points that, in my opinion, are often unde...