Virtual Team Project – Week 5
Since my last post on Saturday 23rd February, our team did two more rounds of review on the English instructions before we delivered them to the translation team on Monday 25th. The rest of the week was very quiet. Because our two translators were on their winter break, the rest of the team was able to rest as well, or at least we were all able to take a step back from the project and focus on other courses and assignments
Of course, we could not escape last minute changes. Several members of our team reviewed the final instructions during the weekend, including a dedicated “final proofreader”, and they highlighted small details that had managed to evade our attention until then. Editing and reviewing really are never-ending tasks that require commitment and open communication until the very end. Nevertheless, we prevailed and had the document ready by the deadline.
Speaking of the deadline, there was no official deadline per se, though many of us in our team (including myself) and in other teams assumed we had to hand in this first draft to our module directors on Monday 25th February even though it would not be graded. That was not the case. The confusion may stem from the assignment brief mentioning that we should “submit” the first draft by Monday 25th February. Or we might all be obsessing over deadlines these days.
But I wonder… Would the English draft have been ready for translation by Monday 25th February if we thought this was a “soft” deadline? In a real-life project, checking the meaning of deadlines would have been a priority. In this project, it seemed that, official or not, this deadline was meant to provide us with guidance and structure. Without a clear, official deadline, would delays have been more likely? I think so, and it would have been harder for me as project manager to justify my pushing back in that case. Even when there are no official deadlines for a project or a task, setting an informal deadline forces people to define a structure and a plan for action, and to stick to them. And it improves accountability.
As a freelance translator, most of my deadlines are short (so short), formal deadlines. Even then, I usually set other informal deadlines for translation and proofreading tasks, for administrative tasks, private business, etc. When I started freelancing, financial uncertainty was the biggest source of stress. It still is. This led me to accept any and all projects and I was quickly drained of all energy. I had to learn to set personal goals and deadlines and, most importantly, to stick to them.
The last part was more difficult, but I finally learnt to say “no” for my health. I have somewhat “fell off the wagon” as I juggle freelancing and the Master’s programme and the second semester is especially demanding. Not knowing when the next translation request will come in makes it difficult to organise my time by setting personal deadlines. Fortunately, financial uncertainty aside, freelancing means I can say “no” to work requests, which is not an option for many of my fellow students. I wonder how they cope with their workloads, studies and private lives.
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