As we bring technology into our lives, we must be prepared to realign ourselves

Technology has penetrated tightly into our lives, especially due to the year 2020 and the need in all fields to perform our work remotely. As we embrace technology, we must be prepared to realign ourselves and adapt to a new form of communication and interaction, which requires the development of new skills—both on the part of clients and translation service providers.

If you are a client, that is, a customer of translation services, you are probably used to sending files for translation by email and calling the supplier to clarify all the details over the phone. But then, all of a sudden, the supplier suggests you switch to working through a portal of some kind. Your first thought is, why would I want to do that if things are already working? To overcome the fear of the unknown, we need to understand how technology can change interactions with suppliers for the better.

It is not always obvious to the customer why they should spend time familiarizing themselves with a new tool, trying to figure out where to click or how to set up an account, but once they look a little deeper, they immediately understand that it is an investment of time in future efficiency—spend an hour studying the portal, and dozens of hours are saved on agreeing on estimates, lists of services, deadlines and other project conditions.

Now, all that is required is an internet connection and the ability to set the right parameters to place an order. And if the client needs to communicate important order requirements to the supplier, they can be recorded immediately in the order, where the history of uploaded files, comments and instructions are saved. While it is difficult to get away from face-to-face communication, you gain the ability to easily search the order list for information.

There is also a significant change on the supplier side. In addition to learning how to use the portal, the project manager must be able to explain and show everything to the client, answer questions quickly in the first stage of familiarizing themselves with the account, and provide minimal technical support. Communication skills are being transformed and digitalized, and the supplier must learn how to give short and concise demo presentations. With the switch to the new work format, instead of an hour-long phone call discussing project details, an order placement window can now be filled in and all requirements specified in the comments. Instead of verbal approval or lengthy correspondence by email, work can now be done via the platform, with meeting-calls for more complex discussions on process optimization, customization of account functionality or other automation issues.

In this way, everyone involved in the translation process is adapting to a changing world and using technology in their daily work. Although this transformation process comes with the need to learn new things, ultimately, we realize that technology speeds up the work and new skills simplify client-supplier interactions.