Project Managers Are Offering New Kinds of Support

项目经理提供新支持

2020-09-09 00:40 GALA

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08 September 2020 With all the social distancing that’s going on, even freelancers who are used to working from home are in need of a more human approach in their daily communications. And they’re not the only ones. Our relationships with the scores of freelancers who work with us have always varied widely. Some of our translators and proofreaders are all business, simply accepting assignments and returning them with the usual professional courtesy. Others have been our go-tos for years, so we may know something about their families, pets, hobbies and interests. Our project managers consider it part of their job to sense who is comfortable with what level of familiarity and to respect boundaries. Now the coronavirus is changing some of those relationships. Many freelancers tend to be lone wolves, accustomed to the relative isolation of their home offices. Working remotely is their modus operandi anyway. So, apart from the volume of projects coming in, one might assume that Covid-19 had not actually altered much about their work at all. But in fact, a small revolution seems to be happening out there. Over the past few months, as the corona pandemic began to spread in earnest and lockdowns impacted more and more regions, many of our freelancers started opening up. One of our project managers put it this way: “I’ve noticed that translators call us much more often. They miss the human contact. I also spend a lot more time chatting with clients about the situation in general, and sometimes even about our personal lives. Everybody feels the need to share, to tell others about themselves.” How do relationships move to a deeper level in practice? People often reach out in subtle ways – maybe as basic as “How’s everything going with you?” or “Hope you had a good vacation and got to recharge your batteries.” But if they’ve never asked questions like this before, it may indicate a desire to communicate on a more personal level. Empathetic PMs are delighted to take these offers up. Recently, for example, a translator took a bit longer than usual to answer an e-mail. Rather than a simple “Sorry for not getting back to you earlier,” she mentioned that she had taken advantage of the beautiful weather to go out for a quick swim – which led to a lively conversation about the fjords near her home and the area in general. Another translator sent in a picture of his office mate (a charming black cat) – opening a new window into his day-to-day work and sparking a long, friendly chat. Project managers are people too, of course, and just as affected by social distancing as the rest of us. So they have started reaching out as well, often calling clients rather than sending an e-mail. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Clearly, everyone is craving some extra human contact. We fervently hope that the coronavirus will soon be behind us. For now, though, we are grateful for the new and deeper connections that have grown out of these strange times – an unexpected silver lining that has already enriched our business relationships.
2020年9月8日 随着我们的所有与社会之间不断疏远,即使是惯于在家工作的自由职业者,需要一种更人性化的方式用于日常交流。 而且这些方式不是唯一的。 我们与众多自由职业者的关系总是千差万别。翻译和校对都是公事,我们只是简单地接受任务,并以惯常的职业礼貌予以回报。有些人多年来一直是常客,所以我们可能会对他们的家庭,宠物,爱好和兴趣有所了解。项目经理认为了解谁对某种程度的熟悉程度并尊重界限是工作的一部分。 现在冠状病毒正在改变其中的一些关系。 许多自由职业者倾向于独来独往,习惯于家庭办公室的相对孤立。无论如何,远程工作是他们的工作方式。因此除了项目数量外,人们可能会认为新冠肺炎疫情实际上并没有对他们的工作做出太大的改变。 但事实上,一场小小的革命似乎正在发生。在过去的几个月里,随着日冕大流行开始蔓延,封锁影响到越来越多的地区,许多自由职业者开始走出去。 一位项目经理这样说:“我注意到翻译人员经常给我们打电话。 他们怀念与人类真实的接触感。 我还花了很多时间与客户聊一般情况,有时甚至聊到个人生活。 每个人都觉得有必要分享关于自己的事情。“ 关系如何在实践中发展到更深层次? 人们经常以微妙的方式接触对方-可能就像“一切进展顺利吗?”或“希望你假期愉快并活力满满。” 但如果他们以前从未问过这样的问题,则可能表明他们希望在个人层面上进行交流。 善解人意的项目经理很乐意接受这些提议。 例如,最近译员比平常花更多时间来回复电子邮件。 而不是简单的“很抱歉,没有给你早点回电话”,而是提到她利用好天气出去游泳-从而引发了关于她家附近的峡湾以及附近地区总体情况的热闹谈话。 另一位翻译送来了他的办公室伙伴(一只迷人的黑猫)的照片,这为他的日常工作打开了一个新窗口,并展开了一场长时间的交谈。 当然项目经理也深有体会,和我们其他人一样受到社会距离的影响。 因此,他们也开始联系客户,经常打电话而不是发送电子邮件。 客户对此反应显得非常积极。 显然,每个人都渴望与人接触。 我们热切希望冠状病毒能快速消失。 但是就目前而言,我们感谢在这个千奇百怪的时代中成长起来的新的和更深的联系-这种意想不到的生生希望早已丰富了我们的业务关系。

以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。

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