| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Poll: Do you use an instant messaging tool to chat with clients? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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David Young (X) 
Denmark
Local time: 18:35
Danish to English
| Multi-tasking mythology | Feb 26, 2015 |
Mark Nathan wrote:
There seems to be a suggestion that younger people will "develop multi-tasking" to a greater extent, but I have my doubts!
I think there are some studies which show that "multi-tasking" is a myth - for women too . What is actually happening is that the person concerned is flipping from one task to another and the quality of what they are doing on all the tasks suffers.
David
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Instant messaging maybe quicker, but I vastly prefer email, as I can take time to re-read and think before replying and above all, as others have said, allows me to keep a paper trail of all communication.
P.S. In my experience, translation and multitasking don’t go together at all!
| | | | Richard Lackey (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:35
Spanish to English
+ ...
| Not to accept jobs but,... | Feb 26, 2015 |
I do occasionally find Skype useful to discuss a project that I am working on with a client or fellow translator. E-mail is simply the best means of initial communication so that I can see the document to be translated, but there are other occasions when you want to speak with the client!
| | | | Helen Hagon
Local time: 17:35
Member (2011)
Russian to English
+ ...
| Very occasionally | Feb 26, 2015 |
I never send IMs myself - I prefer to send an email for various reasons. However, I do have a couple of lovely customers who occasionally send an IM to ask if it's ok to call me. That way, we can either talk straight away or arrange a mutually convenient time as our conversations tend to be lengthy and in-depth. I find it very polite and appreciate their consideration.
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Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 18:35
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Seldom, if ever | Feb 26, 2015 |
Only in case of emergencies do my clients and I use IM.
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most clients contact me via email, occasionally phone if it's urgent. I have had some contacts via skype chat, but not very often. It's mostly email.
| | | | Diana Obermeyer
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:35
Member (2013)
German to English
+ ...
| I try to avoid it. | Feb 26, 2015 |
I used to use Skype a lot more about a year ago. I had some fairly new direct clients who would email me in between meetings, by the time I saw the email they were back in the meeting, by the time they saw my reply, I was having dinner... so setting up a project was dragged out by a day or so. Skype helped us bridge that. Over time, we've really just settled on them sending a project and stating "normal" or "urgent" delivery, having agreed roughly what each means, and at fixed rate for each serv... See more I used to use Skype a lot more about a year ago. I had some fairly new direct clients who would email me in between meetings, by the time I saw the email they were back in the meeting, by the time they saw my reply, I was having dinner... so setting up a project was dragged out by a day or so. Skype helped us bridge that. Over time, we've really just settled on them sending a project and stating "normal" or "urgent" delivery, having agreed roughly what each means, and at fixed rate for each service speed. Since I am the only translator for these specific clients, this works fine and we don't really need to discuss every file.
Given my positive experience with Skype communication in that context, I made the enormous mistake of also accepting Skype for a couple of agencies. Though I stated clearly that email remains my preferred method of communication and explained that unnecessary instant messages are distracting and severely impact my productivity, it was overused and I started receiving messages if I didn't respond to an email within a few minutes. Consequently, I rarely sign in now. I think I may need to attempt another round of explaining and remove them from my contact list. Somehow, there's a total lack of understanding of the nature of my work and where communication fits in.
I check my emails whenever I finish a difficult sentence or a section. This may be every 30 minutes, every hour or even every 2 hours, depending on the type of text I'm working on. At that point I have a mental break anyway, so it's far less disruptive. If an IM flashes up mid-sentence, I cannot just pick-up from the same point after answering, I have to start the sentence/section again.
Moreover, IM tends to be fed in chunks. Instead of all the information being provided as would be the case in an email, there are 5, 10 or even more exchanges. What could have been sorted in 5 minutes via email often wastes half an hour or more of my time. I start working on my sentence again, barely reinstate working mode and the next distraction follows. I find it entirely impossible to work like that.
So my temporary solution is simply not to sign in.
I rather clients phone me in the event of urgency (even though there's a danger of waking me up, especially if they're in another time zone...): 1. Clients tend to think before picking up the phone. 2. They tend to speak in full sentences. 3. It is usually limited to 1 phone call and not dragged out over a large number of incomplete messages.
[Edited at 2015-02-26 19:58 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Skype, and I have a new direct client that loves texting.
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Deirdre Brophy (X)
France
English to Irish
+ ...
| Almost never | Feb 26, 2015 |
But it was useful recently when a project manager helped me to sort out a technical problem getting access to files
| | | | Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 12:35
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
+ ...
Never.... That would be a haven for micro-managers.
[Edited at 2015-02-26 21:00 GMT]
| | | | Claire Cox
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:35
French to English
+ ...
| Yes, for 2-3 clients | Feb 26, 2015 |
Yes, I have 2-3 clients who contact me via Skype instant message, never Skype call, and it works really well. I don't give my Skype details to all and sundry, but if they ask and I think they can be trusted not to abuse it, it's a quick and easy way of checking availability. If I'm not there, I can't see it, and if I am, I can either respond very quickly (say I'm on the phone or busy), or answer properly. Either way, it's much less time-consuming than an e-mail or phone call and I don't find it ... See more Yes, I have 2-3 clients who contact me via Skype instant message, never Skype call, and it works really well. I don't give my Skype details to all and sundry, but if they ask and I think they can be trusted not to abuse it, it's a quick and easy way of checking availability. If I'm not there, I can't see it, and if I am, I can either respond very quickly (say I'm on the phone or busy), or answer properly. Either way, it's much less time-consuming than an e-mail or phone call and I don't find it disruptive at all. Mine is set to show I'm offline if I haven't done anything on the computer for 10 minutes, or it's simple enough to change the settings to show you as offline even if you're not if you really don't want to be disturbed. Once we've established whether I'm available or not, the main business of placing the job usually takes place by e-mail, or Dropbox in one case, thus leaving a documented trail.
I also find Skype IM invaluable for making quick terminology queries to colleagues, as others have said - you can be much more succinct than in an e-mail! ▲ Collapse
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