exact! event for freelancers

On 18 February 2017, we were delighted to welcome our external translators to the exact! office in Mannheim once again as part of a special event for freelancers. This get-together gave us the opportunity to look ahead to the future together with our experienced, long-standing freelance colleagues.

The market is evolving, and we are evolving with it. Our new brand identity, with a new logo, modern website and revised mission statement are now a clearer expression of what exact! stands for – translation that pinpoints your message.

exact! is now in an even better position to provide its customers with outstanding services in the field of translation. Our new look supports our objective of providing high-quality translations. In addition to our existing ISO-9001 certification, we are also pursuing certification in accordance with ISO 17100 for translation services.

A central topic of the ISO 17100 is revision according to the dual control principle, a key tool for quality assurance. In this process, two experts are involved in preparing a translation: a translator and a reviser. Two people see more than one, and a second pair of eyes reduces the rate of errors and increases the quality of the translation.

exact! has always provided the dual control principle as a service. However, the standard stipulates certain requirements that must be met. We discussed these requirements with our external translators as part of the freelancers event.

To kick things off, the exact! team members introduced themselves. Reinhild Möller, quality manager and our most experienced colleague, then gave a presentation on how exact! has been implementing the dual control principle for years when required by the customer.

Another member of the team then talked about her experiences of having joined exact! as an in-house translator after several years working as a freelancer. Revision according to the dual control principle played a key role here, too. Having previously worked alone, she first had to get accustomed to the clearly defined and organised distinction between the work steps translation and revision.

She concluded that “quality management is better in a team than alone”. This sentiment was explored further during the lunch break, in which we enjoyed a lovely buffet lunch and had an opportunity to chat. The programme continued with a discussion focusing on how to implement the dual control principle successfully.

Participants in the discussion shared various different perspectives and experiences. Some voiced positive opinions, while others were more critical. Some key aspects were brought to light that are extremely important for the dual control principle:

• Clearly defined expectations with regard to the translator and reviser
• Fair remuneration for the translation and revision work steps
• Mutual trust between the translator and the reviser
• A network comprising translators and potential revisers

The last two aspects were examined in-depth straight away: The event was then rounded off with coffee and cakes, which provided another chance to chat to colleagues. Many of the participants knew each other already, while others had previously only been in touch by phone or e-mail. The lively discussion was a great opportunity for our external colleagues to extend their networks.

We would like to thank all participants for attending the event and making such valuable contributions – we are looking forward to the next freelancers event already!