Poll: ignore rude project manager or scale the issue up? Thread poster: Rodrigo Rosales Sosa
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Dear colleagues,
I have the following situation with a quite rude and unprofessional PM:
I received a reviewing task from said PM and, on delivery, I expressed my concerns with the quality of the translation (overall, riddled with literal translations, mistranslations, English-like structure and poor readability; mind you, this is a document for patients) and suggested the documents should be retranslated or reviewed. I supported my concerns with a document containing e... See more Dear colleagues,
I have the following situation with a quite rude and unprofessional PM:
I received a reviewing task from said PM and, on delivery, I expressed my concerns with the quality of the translation (overall, riddled with literal translations, mistranslations, English-like structure and poor readability; mind you, this is a document for patients) and suggested the documents should be retranslated or reviewed. I supported my concerns with a document containing examples and comments of said mistranslations present throughout the document.
The PM's response was that the other reviewers didn't raise any concerns and that the first reviewer actually give a high score for the translation (a sad state of affairs, in my opinion), and that "the project is closed on your side", adding nothing further and, effectively, ignoring me. This is not the first time this PM has adopted this attitude. I am usually very professional when communicating with PMs, and, overall, most of them usually are as well. Never had an issue.
If this was not a matter of quality, I would just ignore and move on, but the total disregard for a valid professional concern made my blood boil. I don't believe this PM actually forwarded any of my concerns.
So, should I just ignore or try to scale the issue up? (I have expressed translation concerns in past projects so I'm worried I'll already be labeled "that guy" and, perhaps, not receive any more jobs from them [this agency has been a good source of income for some time]).
I would like to know your opinions and experiences on this matter ▲ Collapse
| | | | Arne Krueger
Germany
Local time: 10:08
German to English
+ ...
No, I don't think you have done anything wrong. But put yourself in the position of the PM. As far as I can see, you were the last one to ask, right? So, there was probably not enough time for them to get into it more closely.
I wouldn't be concerned. You have said what needed to be said. If their client comes back to them expressing the same issues you mentioned, your PM will certainly be reminded of your good work...
But please mind that reviewing other people's work ... See more No, I don't think you have done anything wrong. But put yourself in the position of the PM. As far as I can see, you were the last one to ask, right? So, there was probably not enough time for them to get into it more closely.
I wouldn't be concerned. You have said what needed to be said. If their client comes back to them expressing the same issues you mentioned, your PM will certainly be reminded of your good work...
But please mind that reviewing other people's work is highly preferential. There are so many ways to convey content. If your PM is not even native of close to native in the language pair you work in, he/she probably just guessed that there are three different opinions; one being very good, the second maybe average, and then your assessment. He/she just thought: Alright, not completely disastrous.
And no, I don't think it is rude either. I mean, if they have nothing else to say to you, so be it. You cannot force other people to respond to your queries. ^^ Not your problem then. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Marina Aleyeva 
Israel
Local time: 11:08
Member (2006)
English to Russian
+ ...
I'm afraid it's not worth it, so I'd just ignore and forget. You did the right thing by pointing the problematic translation out to the PM, so it's not your fault if it falls on deaf ears. And yes, you put yourself at risk of losing the client if you keep questioning the level of quality they are happy with. In fact, this was one the reasons for me to stop accepting reviewing jobs altogether. I simply didn't want to face the choice of either risking my relationship with my clients by telling the... See more I'm afraid it's not worth it, so I'd just ignore and forget. You did the right thing by pointing the problematic translation out to the PM, so it's not your fault if it falls on deaf ears. And yes, you put yourself at risk of losing the client if you keep questioning the level of quality they are happy with. In fact, this was one the reasons for me to stop accepting reviewing jobs altogether. I simply didn't want to face the choice of either risking my relationship with my clients by telling them the harsh truth or having to deal with low quality translations, many of which are machine or AI-generated garbage. ▲ Collapse
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Just ignore it, move on, it is none of your concern.
The level of quality they want to keep and the actions they take or not take in order to improve or not improve is their business (which is usually a matter of a many factors, including budget, human resources, etc., which we are not aware of as external resources).
You did your part: you reported on the issues you noticed and made your suggestions as a professional. They decide on where they want to take it from th... See more Just ignore it, move on, it is none of your concern.
The level of quality they want to keep and the actions they take or not take in order to improve or not improve is their business (which is usually a matter of a many factors, including budget, human resources, etc., which we are not aware of as external resources).
You did your part: you reported on the issues you noticed and made your suggestions as a professional. They decide on where they want to take it from there.
As a general rule, try to collaborate and have a collaborative relation with your PM. The PM is generally much better aware of the many complexities of their business than their external resources are.
Also, I think your PM is probably doing well in not paying too much attention everytime to what someone says. PMs typically have many things to attend to and little time, and are used to hearing complaints and dissatisfactions which sometimes turn out to be well founded and sometimes not - it is therefore wise for them to stay a little bit aloof from such things (unless, of course, things escalate, for instance in the case of repeated criticisms from reviewers against a certain translator, etc.). So try not to take this PM's aloofness personally. ▲ Collapse
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Rodrigo Rosales Sosa wrote:
....the total disregard for a valid professional concern made my blood boil. ....
So, should I just ignore or try to scale the issue up?
What exactly do you want to achieve?
Act accordingly.
And really, only you can answer that, as it's not entirely clear from your post (which is fine).
I get a feeling part of you wants to keep working with them, in which case I would probably not take matters much further, and another part of you wants to see the PM sacked after being paraded naked through the office with a dunce's cap on, in which case you'll probably be hunting for the CEO's email address
But seriously - decide what outcome you want. I feel that will help you decide what to do.
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