The source of a large part of the problems met in the translation process lies not in the translation but at the point where the request enters the organisation. If the flow is disorderly, every later step carries that disorder.
A scattered channel destroys visibility
When requests go to different people as emails, messages and verbal requests, the total volume is visible nowhere. Both planning and measurement become impossible.
Priority is lost
Every person who passes on a request sees their own job as the priority. If there is no shared queue, priority is set by the most insistent request.
A standard form reduces the burden
The file, the delivery date, the place of use and the contact person. When these four fields are mandatory, a large part of the questions that would be asked during the job are answered at the outset.
If the form is long, it is not filled in
A form with fifteen fields is abandoned within a few weeks and the requests start coming in by email again. The number of mandatory fields should be kept low.
A single door does not mean a single person
The flow passing through a single point does not mean that a single person stands at that point. A single door with no backup stops the flow during periods of leave.
A record prevents duplicate work
An incoming request is first searched for in the archive. Whether the same document has been translated before can be known only if there is a record.
Counter-view: a process slows the units down
It is said that an extra step will delay the work. Yet what is measured is most often the opposite: a request that arrives with missing information leads to a round of questions and answers that takes longer than filling in a form.
A rush request comes in through the same door
When a separate route is opened for rush jobs, over time all requests start coming in by that route. Urgency is a label, not a separate channel.
A declined request is recorded too
If requests that are not carried out for reasons of budget or scope are invisible, the real need looks smaller than it is and the planning is built incomplete.
The flow becomes measurable
A single door makes it possible to measure the gap between the date of the request and the date of the source document. Without this measurement, every debate about the share of rush jobs rests on impressions.
Feedback returns through the same channel
If it is not clear where a view on the delivered job is to be sent, the feedback gets lost inside the organisation and never arrives.
The flow should fit the culture of the organisation
Whichever tool is actually used in the organisation, that is where requests should be collected. A flawless form built in a system that nobody opens dies quietly alongside the requests arriving by email.
Takeaway
The request flow is the cheapest and the most neglected area of improvement in the translation process. Four mandatory fields, a single door, responsibility with a backup and a simple record-keeping arrangement; changes of capacity or supplier made before these are in place produce the same result at a higher cost.