Poll: In general, do you prefer working in a team or alone? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "In general, do you prefer working in a team or alone?".
This poll was originally submitted by Terejimenez. View the poll results »
| | | | Samir Sami
Qatar
Local time: 16:52
Arabic to English
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| All my own ... all alone | Nov 21, 2010 |
Well it's like what Richard once said:
I am myself ... alone.
| | | | Nicole Schnell 
United States
Local time: 06:52
English to German
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In memoriam | What is considered "a team" in this context? | Nov 21, 2010 |
Splitting a project among several translators? That's like driving a four-in-hand carriage (a carriage with four horses).
Answer: No.
Teaming up with an excellent editor?
Answer: Definitely yes. I need my editor to be my first and crucial test market because I don't write for my own pleasure but for the public.
So my answer was: Other.
| | | | | Definitely on my own | Nov 21, 2010 |
Perhaps because of bad experiences in the past, I never liked to work in groups.
When we had to form groups at school, there was always a couple who didn't want to do a thing and perhaps another person who was not that smart and could ruin things. So the good students ended up doing twice as much work, and sometimes the grade was not that high because the rest hadn't work much/at all.
I always think it's going to be like that, I will never find somebody that translates... See more Perhaps because of bad experiences in the past, I never liked to work in groups.
When we had to form groups at school, there was always a couple who didn't want to do a thing and perhaps another person who was not that smart and could ruin things. So the good students ended up doing twice as much work, and sometimes the grade was not that high because the rest hadn't work much/at all.
I always think it's going to be like that, I will never find somebody that translates 100% in the same way I do, even though the translation may be very good. At the end, when we'll have to standardize terms and grammar constructions, somebody in the group will probably have to do a very thorough, boring and time-demanding work. And most likely that would be me! I'm too perfectionist. ▲ Collapse
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David Russi
United States
Local time: 07:52
English to Spanish
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| Depends on the team... | Nov 21, 2010 |
The third option makes no sense, the only way it could depend on he project is if it's too large, in which case presumably you cannot do it alone, o if it's out of your area of expertise, in which case you should not be working on it. Well, I guess splitting a novel among several translators would probably not be ideal either...
The team, however, is everything in this context, and not just the translator(s) whose work you will edit and who will edit yours, who should have good comm... See more The third option makes no sense, the only way it could depend on he project is if it's too large, in which case presumably you cannot do it alone, o if it's out of your area of expertise, in which case you should not be working on it. Well, I guess splitting a novel among several translators would probably not be ideal either...
The team, however, is everything in this context, and not just the translator(s) whose work you will edit and who will edit yours, who should have good communication and compromise skills, but also the project manager who will have to field and handle the inevitable questions and answers (unless a direct client), possibly across several languages. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 15:52
English to French
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| Depends on the job | Nov 21, 2010 |
I often work in a team but we are all physically on our own.
The first time was long before the Internet, a call for tenders of about 150 pages that we received on a Friday to hand in the next Thursday. All members of the team received the others' phone numbers and the agency designated one of us to coordinate, centralise all parts and review the lot on Monday.
I have been part of a team (of 14) for the past 6 years or so for a long-term multipage project. Not the type where ... See more I often work in a team but we are all physically on our own.
The first time was long before the Internet, a call for tenders of about 150 pages that we received on a Friday to hand in the next Thursday. All members of the team received the others' phone numbers and the agency designated one of us to coordinate, centralise all parts and review the lot on Monday.
I have been part of a team (of 14) for the past 6 years or so for a long-term multipage project. Not the type where the client has all pages (over two hundred thousand so far) from the start, but the type that builds up as it goes. As there are multiple documents/files, each of us works on his own and has contact with the revising team and the coordinator only. But having worked that way before, I know quite a few members of the team personally too!
I teamed up with a friend from uni a few times, and she gave me quite a compliment "I thought I was reading my own" - same school, same training, same professors... sure helps!
Teaming up is fine with me, preferably on multi-file projects, where the dispatcher chooses all members for their style and translation quality and even for their personality. ▲ Collapse
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even though my experience inteam has always been good.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:52
Spanish to English
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| Depends on project | Nov 21, 2010 |
As I mentioned in response yesterday's poll, if I have to translate a text into my L2 (which isn't often, as in principle I am not in favour of non-native translation) I work with a native speaker to ensure the outcome is acceptable in the target language.
Apart from this, I'm not a big fan of working in a team unless I happen to have cherry-picked the members myself, so generally try to avoid it whenever possible.
For me, "Hell is other people" often holds true...
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on my own. But working with a good team from time to time can be fun.
| | | | Williamson
United Kingdom
Local time: 14:52
Flemish to English
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| People Service Profit | Nov 21, 2010 |
In my view a translator tends to a very egocentric person, translator XYZ, language combination X>X, specialised in... but that is not the way companies work. Companies stress teamwork and teambuilding.
The ideal combination is not the translator specialised in, but the specialist, supplier of terminology-the translator, skilled in languages and with a broad knowledge, the specialist who reviews the content and terms used and both working together on the final revision of the translation.... See more In my view a translator tends to a very egocentric person, translator XYZ, language combination X>X, specialised in... but that is not the way companies work. Companies stress teamwork and teambuilding.
The ideal combination is not the translator specialised in, but the specialist, supplier of terminology-the translator, skilled in languages and with a broad knowledge, the specialist who reviews the content and terms used and both working together on the final revision of the translation.
I remember an agency which outsourced at job about construction specs, where translators armed with specialised dictionaries and terminology lists were "building the translation". I was part of the translation team and worked together with an construction engineer, who drew the text, put the terminology on the description and was paid as terminology supplier of the agency, because translators could not figure out the meaning of the text.
[Edited at 2010-11-21 16:40 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Theo Bernards (X)
France
Local time: 15:52
English to Dutch
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| Better on my own... | Nov 21, 2010 |
but truth be told I have not worked in teams since I went into translations. I have worked in teams prior my translation activities and the results were mixed. Sometimes I felt that certain colleagues in a job were not completely up to the task and then I would offer to help them, which often lead to me doing their job as well as mine. At one point such a colleague went with all the glory during a quarterly performance review while I was perceived to under-perform. Very disheartening!
... See more but truth be told I have not worked in teams since I went into translations. I have worked in teams prior my translation activities and the results were mixed. Sometimes I felt that certain colleagues in a job were not completely up to the task and then I would offer to help them, which often lead to me doing their job as well as mine. At one point such a colleague went with all the glory during a quarterly performance review while I was perceived to under-perform. Very disheartening!
This doesn't happen when working alone so I prefer to stay working alone ▲ Collapse
| | | | Elena Novski
Canada
Local time: 09:52
Russian to English
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| I prefer to be my own boss... | Nov 22, 2010 |
... it is not due to negative past experience, rather, my personal trait...
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