The workflow: brief, terminology list, translation, revision, proofreading, delivery.
Process
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Last updated: 20 July 2026
Process
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Process
The workflow: brief, terminology list, translation, revision, proofreading, delivery.
Translation services
mots Tercüme does this work
mots Tercüme provides written translation to organisations: sworn and notarised translation, technical, legal and financial translation, website and software translation.
Pages in this section
Intake
- Request intake The first questions asked when a translation request arrives, and why no quote is given on incomplete information.
- File analysis Measuring the incoming file: volume, repetition rate, legibility and hidden work items.
- Scope definition Setting out in writing what will be translated and what will not be translated.
- Quote preparation What information a quote based on measurement and scope contains, and its validity period.
- Job acceptance criteria Which jobs are not taken on, and why declining a job is a quality decision.
- Source file request Why the editable source file is requested and how the method changes when it does not arrive.
- Delivery time planning Which steps the turnaround is made up of, daily capacity and the buffer allowance.
- Team selection Deciding who will do the job according to field, language direction and confidentiality level.
- Confidentiality arrangements How files are transmitted, who has access to them and what is done at the end of the job.
- Project kick-off meeting The short meeting that lets the team and the client start a large job with the same understanding.
Preparation
- Source text assessment Reading the source text before translation starts and marking the problematic sections.
- Terminology preparation Building the terminology list before translation, having it approved and updating it throughout the job.
- Style guide Putting the form of address, number style and formal preferences in writing before the job.
- Collecting reference material Collecting previous translations, corporate documents and subject sources before the job.
- Translation memory preparation Setting up the client memory, match thresholds and memory maintenance before the job.
- File preparation Importing the files into the tools, locking the fields not to be translated and preserving the structure.
- Format conversion The losses that occur when moving between file formats, and when conversion is carried out.
- Text extraction Retyping the text of files that cannot be edited, and the error risk of this step itself.
- Image text list Gathering the text in diagrams, charts and photographs in a separate list, and the form of delivery.
- Splitting the work Dividing large jobs into parts, the boundaries of the division and responsibility for consistency.
Translation
- Translation stage How the actual translation work runs, the daily rhythm and the recording of decision points.
- Terminology queries Collecting the term questions that come up during the job, asking them and spreading the answers.
- Research and verification Verifying the facts and names in the text, the reliability of sources and where the line is drawn.
- Limits of machine translation The rule that client documents are not uploaded to free services, and how controlled use differs.
- Progress tracking Measuring where the job stands, seeing a delay early and notifying the client.
- Interim deliveries Delivery section by section in long jobs, early feedback and preventing version confusion.
- Producing translator's notes Collecting the notes that accumulate during the job, classifying them and preparing them for delivery.
- Source text issues Reporting the errors and ambiguities found in the source, not correcting them, and recording them.
- Client questions and answers Running the two-way flow of questions through a single channel and recording the answers.
- Change management How changes of scope and source that arrive while the job is in progress affect the plan.
Review and delivery
- Revision stage A comparative read against the source by someone other than the translator, and the authority to correct.
- Proofreading The fluency read carried out without looking at the source, and how it differs from revision.
- Numeric field check Verifying numbers, dates, sums and reference numbers against a list, independently of the text.
- Terminology compliance scan Scanning the completed text automatically against the terminology list and assessing the findings.
- Format and layout check Checking the page layout and tags of the delivery file, and how it opens in a different environment.
- Delivery preparation The final compilation step before delivery, applying the checklist and the decision to send.
- Client approval The inspection window after delivery, the approval record and how silence is interpreted.
- Feedback evaluation Separating incoming corrections into errors and differences of preference, and answering them.
- Correction rounds Applying corrections, marking versions and limiting the number of rounds.
- Job closure The steps of archiving, clean-up, completing the records and the post-job assessment.
Infrastructure
- Project management Coordination and the single-owner principle in jobs that span several documents and teams.
- Job tracking system Tracking where jobs stand in a shared system and keeping the records accessible.
- Process records Which records are kept, how long they are retained and what they are good for.
- Resource planning Seeing capacity in advance, peak periods and the balance between commitment and capacity.
- Subcontractor management Maintaining the chain of confidentiality and quality responsibility when outside resources are used.
- Rush jobs Working arrangements for short-notice deliveries, the increased risks and the extra measures taken.
- Recurring jobs Templates, memory and time savings in similar documents that arrive at regular intervals.
- Jobs under a framework agreement Defining the terms once in continuing relationships, and the flow of orders.
- Process measurement Which indicators are measured, the stability of their definitions and the honesty of measurement.
- Process improvement Getting to the root cause of recurring errors and building the measure into the process.