Burton | Van Iersel | & Whitney
The five principles set out below, first briefly, then in greater detail, apply to all written work we do in the field of executive support, whether researching, writing, copy-editing, or translating, but their main purpose is to describe the standards we have set for ourselves and the way we see our role. For work involving translation or copywriting by external institutes, we also describe here the way we see ourselves relating to such institutes and their people.
I. The principles in brief
- 1. We believe in zero defects
- 2. We write for the reader
- 3. We are obsessed with quality but conscious of cost
- 4. We make personal contact a priority
1. We believe in zero defects
We tolerate no compromises of any kind in our work. When researching and writing, we get to the bottom of things. When copy-editing or translating, we question the veracity of an original text as a matter of principle, never accepting anything at face value or glossing over the unclear. Our aim and our unrelenting ambition is to get it right. At the same time, we are open to queries and proposals of others with reference to our work, including our suppliers. We honor any challenge to our work, and carry out our part of any ensuing dialogue in a spirit of creativity.
2. We write for the reader
It is not enough for our texts to be free of error. We also want them to read well. If we are copy-editing translations, we want our own texts to read like originals. For this, we need to get behind the words of a text and into its message, even into the mind of its author. At the same time, we need a secure sense of target audience, and must learn to speak their language. Where we need to be precise, we shall be precise, but never at the expense of clarity or accessibility.
3. We are obsessed with quality, but conscious of cost
Quality is our most valued asset, as well as our ultimate aim. We accept that it also has to be paid for. In all that we do, we therefore strive to enhance quality and at the same time to reduce costs. We thus allocate jobs to partners according to job demands and a partner's profile. But we allocate jobs neither according to quality demands nor to cost alone. Our job is to get the right match, to obtain the best possible ratio of cost to benefit.
4. We make personal contact a priority
Getting the right match means that we must know not only our clients, but also the people we work with, in a professional environment dominated more by data links than by face-to-face communication. We make a conscious effort to meet up regularly with our colleagues at our offices in Munich and London, and to pay visits to our clients. And not only “when the need arises”: translating is people work.
5. We observe best practices
And in two ways. Firstly, we benchmark our activities against those of other companies to get a feel for the standards in the industry, then to match or to top them. Secondly, research we undertake on an everyday basis extends far beyond that necessitated by terminology searches relating to the text on our desk. Our interest in our customers is genuine. Since we are part of their dialogue with the outside world, we invest any time we can to keep abreast of developments in the technologies and markets in which they do business.
II. The principles in detail
- 1. We believe in zero defects
- 2. We write for the reader
- 3. We are obsessed with quality but conscious of cost
- 4. We make personal contact a priority
1. We believe in zero defects
We assume nothing when working with texts. When researching, we make sure we access the right sources, check with those who are accountable, and even counter-check with other sources that may provide us with different information. We gather all the facts and are careful not to commit errors of omission (leave things out) or errors of commission (put things in that don’t belong).
We’ll stake our reputation on it
When copy-editing or translating, we question the accuracy of an original text as a matter of principle, never accepting anything at face value or glossing over the unclear, the ambiguous, or the unfamiliar. We never guess. We find out. We get questions answered. We get it right. We support our clients in achieving clarity by confronting them with our queries and proposals. We never lay our own work to rest until we are completely unable to find anything more that can be improved, and are thus satisfied that the job is done. Therefore, each and every final version we approve and which carries our name is something we are willing to stake our reputation on.
Openness and honesty
At the same time, we are utterly and unreservedly open to queries and proposals of others with reference to our work. Best value leaves no room for misplaced professional pride when debating interpretations or questions of style amongst ourselves, or with our customers. Essential to such openness and honesty is the recognition that neither we nor they can achieve superior quality without a clearly formulated and practical understanding of what each of us can expect from the other.
The spirit of creativity
Quality work is teamwork. It is a product of minds that see things in different ways and of people who have differing knowledge, skills sets, and experience at their command. We honour any challenge to our work, and carry out our part of any ensuing dialogue in a spirit of creativity. We welcome any opportunity to learn and grow in this way. We never turn a deaf ear. We listen.
2. We write for the reader
It is not enough for our texts to be free of error. We also want them to read well. Our secret client is the addressee. In our translations and editing, we want our own texts to read like originals. This holds for texts which demand close adherence to the prescribed wording – as do written agreements, financial reporting or policy-sensitive press statements – just as it holds for texts which demand close adherence to the spirit, as do periodical publications, website presentations and other widely distributed media.
Getting behind the words
In each case we have to get behind the words of a text and into its message, even into the mind of its author. At the same time, we need a secure sense of target audience, and must learn to speak their language. Where we need to be precise, we shall be precise, but never at the expense of clarity or accessibility.
The decisive interface
As translators and copy-editors, we are the guiding hand of the author’s intent and the advocate of the addressee. We are the decisive interface between the two. We write for the author, yes, but in truth we write for the reader.
Readers are seldom willing or indeed able to compare our text, in their language, with the source text in the author’s language. If the wording of the source text lacks clarity, accessibility, or style appropriate to the intended media, we have a problem the reader does not [and (ideally) should not] see.
Before tackling the first line
Authors should not be blamed for difficulties unintentionally caused (first in comprehension, then in readability) by their being sometimes too close to their subject. Translators and editors must ensure that they have acquired sufficient background knowledge to convey the author’s intended meaning before they begin to tackle word choices. A thorough check-up of any text is therefore essential before starting the first line of any translating or editing job.
Nobody should ever notice us
Since we are ultimately judged by our ability to smoothly convey the message from the author to the reader – and in a way that can be accepted by both without hesitation – the highest praise we can ever hope for is that nobody will ever notice we were involved. Work like this takes ability, sensitivity, dedication, and discipline. And as with any creative process, it takes incubation periods and iterative loops, and these things take time.
Getting the timing right
This basic requisite of translating and editing is easily miscalculated. Getting the timing right should not mean working against the clock. But if our translators and editors, working at the tail end of the communications process, can only rarely ask their customers or readers to wait, it is equally true that “the best I could do in the time available” is not a valid compromise. Quality is at stake here. The better solution is teamwork, communicating (unexpected) problems as they arise, and treating your own product as a translator with respect by respecting your own limits.
3. We are obsessed with quality, but conscious of cost
Quality is our most valued asset, as well as our ultimate aim. We accept that it also has to be paid for and be affordable within budget and market-driven price constraints. In all that we do, we therefore strive to enhance quality and at the same time to reduce costs.
Balance one cost against another
Our experience has shown us that these two endeavours are not necessarily at odds with each other. On the contrary. High-quality translations save an enormous amount of time, even if they tend to cost more. Our own internal quality assurance procedures cost the time they take, and since these are not billed separately to the customer, we often have to balance the one cost against the other. But approaching our work from the standpoint of cost can also open our eyes to options we have not yet seen. So we keep quality and cost in a state of creative tension.
Overspending or overworking?
Our job is to get the right match, to obtain the best possible ratio of cost to benefit. Otherwise we are either overspending on translation capacity or overworking our own in-house resources. We assign jobs to partners according to the specific knowledge and talents required and how these fit the translators’ individual profiles. Job demands vary according to client, technology, sensitivity of text, addressee, and shelf life of product. Translators’ profiles vary according to the portfolios they have built, particularly those developed with us, and the professional experience they have accumulated. They also vary in price. But we assign jobs to partners neither according to quality demands nor to cost alone.
We set priorities
In our own work, we strive for an optimum balance between efficiency and effectiveness. When working with texts, we take pains to ferret out any inconsistency or weakness we can possibly find, but we do this in a timely fashion. Copy-editing is hard and sometimes tedious work, but it is work done on the customer’s time, and we aim for maximum productivity. So we set priorities. We remain flexible in emergencies, but we keep our eye firmly on the things that are important in order to be able to give them the attention they deserve.
Err on the side of quality
In cases of conflict, we tend to err on the side of quality rather than cost, especially where this poses a potential risk to the public image of our customer, or indeed promises to add value to that image, and this over time. So shelf life is important here, especially high-profile shelf life. The point is that we strive for quality wherever we can or must. We are conscious of cost constraints, but not immobilized by them.
4. We make personal contact a priority
Getting the right match means that it is not sufficient to know only our clients, their representatives, their needs, and their wishes. We also have to know the people we work with, in a professional environment dominated more by data links than by face-to-face communication. We keep our finger on the pulse and treat the cultivation of such relations as an ongoing effort. And not only “when the need arises”: translating is people work.
Putting faces to names and names to work
Trade fairs offer an ideal opportunity to catch up with our clients, and get a first-hand view of their latest developments, too. But we will just as readily make the journey to visit them, because we want to put faces to names and names to work. We want to know who is doing what job. Likewise, clients are always invited to visit us, to meet ‘their’ translator(s) or make appropriate recommendations and requests regarding who they feel most comfortable working with.
Demonstrate appreciation, enhance contribution
We make a conscious attempt to meet up regularly with our colleagues at our offices in Munich and London. Collegial contact amongst the people we work with is a basic selection criterion. We invest in our staff and freelance partnerships. We select our translators with the utmost care and with an eye to offering our clients a focused and meaningful range of services, drawing on differing sets of specialist skills and professional experience, and at differing response and price levels. We are appreciative of our translators’ support, demonstrate this appreciation, and help them to enhance their contribution
- by providing them with the information and tools they need
- by taking time to give them feedback on their work, and
- by respecting their legitimate interests.
Oriented to the long term
We allocate work according to our clients' needs, but also with a view to fairness toward our translators. We never place assignments sporadically or at will, neither in the office nor when calling on external partners. We never treat our freelance translators as if they were interchangeable or dispensable entities. They are our partners, and our dealings with them are oriented to the long term. This is in their interests just as it is in ours: every new client, and every translator new to the clients we already work for, calls for extra efforts by everyone on the team, in order to pull through the accompanying learning curve. There is simply no short-term benefit to be gained by anyone from ad hoc working relationships: they are costly, non-productive, and a serious quality risk.
5. We observe best practices
When planning our capacities, our time, and our projects, when developing our cooperation with external partners, and when optimizing our own processes, it helps to be able to compare our approach with that of others. So we observe best practices in two ways:
Wherever it makes sense
We benchmark our activities against those of other companies to get a feel for the standards in the industry. Then we fine-tune our own standards wherever it seems to make sense, or seek alternative solutions, and repeat this process on a continuous basis.
The search for alternatives recently prompted our own development of a user-friendly tool that enables our translators to access and research archived translation material instantly, on line, in its full context. Standard Translation Memory primarily aims to automate the translation process. It is extremely difficult for translators to authenticate and review the source of results presented line-by-line by the system. And as such systems require extensive user-training, we opted for hands-on usability and a context-based solution to boost our productivity that we felt would find easy acceptance amongst all of our partners.
A genuine interest in our customers’ business
Research we undertake on an everyday basis extends far beyond that necessitated by terminology searches relating to the text on our desk. We read the daily press not only to get the news, but also to catch new words used for new things. And our interest in our customers is genuine. Since we are part of their dialogue with the outside world, we invest any time we can to keep abreast of developments in the technologies and markets in which they do business.