Project Managers: A Day in the Life of the Atlas Team

Friends, family, suppliers and clients will often ask us, “So, what do you actually DO as Project Managers?” …and it’s a fair question!

One of the joys of working for Atlas Translations is that no two days are the same, but to give you a flavour of what it is we get up to, let us run you through a “typical” day.

GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING, TO YOU!

Often, particularly on a Monday morning, the clock strikes 9 and the Atlas phone starts a-ring-a-ding-dinging, following a scheduled call from our website. (See that icon at the bottom left of your screen? Yep! We actually ring you back within 27 seconds during our opening hours!)

On the end of the phone might be anyone from a new parent needing a birth certificate translated for their newborn’s visa application, to a prospective client enquiring about rates and our ISO-certification (see more about that here), to a freelance translator who is looking for work.

From one-off jobs for private individuals, to retained corporate clients, our Project Managers are proud to treat everyone with the same respect and offer them a friendly, listening ear to ensure they get the results they require.

High quality, fast and with a smile!

#WHAT’SAHASHTAG

We’ve recently invested more of our time in our social media channels and marketing campaigns, so each morning expect to see us pop up on your LinkedIn feed – and keep an eye out for us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter too!

We love dishing out Top Tips for Linguists, sharing articles on developments in the language service industry and who can resist a good old proofreading blunder every once and a while?!

ROLL UP! ROLL UP! COME AND SEE THE AMAZING ATLAS JUGGLING ACT!

Throughout the day, clients will be sending our Project Managers enquiries, which require an itemised quote. Should a job then go ahead, we have a look through our database to see which supplier would be most appropriate for the job.

Each supplier’s profile shows their language capabilities, as well as their specialisms and rates, so that we can ensure the best person for the job is chosen. Every. Single. Time.

Once a deadline and a rate is agreed with the supplier, we will send them a purchase order (so that they can submit an invoice and get paid quickly by us!). By the time this is done, chances are we are already midway through placing another job, or on the phone again!

WHO GOT THE POWER?

Each of us in our 7-person strong team have a four-day working week (I know…pick your jaw up off the floor…), and one day working from home. So, when we’re not in the office we’ll often engage in a ‘Power Hour’ over Microsoft Teams, having a little informal catch up before bouncing across a few ideas and discussing anything that needs addressing.

We all consider ourselves to be “people people” and enjoy each other’s company; to us, checking in with one another on screen will never quite be the same as face-to-face interaction (and making our own cups of tea all day every day got pretty old pretty quickly during lockdown…).

IT’S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!

Before any job is submitted to the client, the assignment will be given a quality check by us in-house. This is to double check that any names, dates, numbers and formatting are accurate and acceptable for delivery.

Many jobs will undergo proofreading by a second vetted linguist, but we just like to add in this final extra stage to make absolutely certain the client is getting what they’ve asked for.

ARE WE NEARLY THERE YET?

Whilst we are all experienced Project Managers, many of us are linguists too! On occasion – when the right job comes up – we will take on translation, transcription or interpreting projects ourselves, outside of working hours.

As well as a nice little top up of our income, this helps to keep our linguistic brains ticking, and puts us in the shoes of our suppliers, helping us understand their pain-points and communicate as best as we possibly can.

SOUNDS GOOD, RIGHT?

If you’re after top-quality language services and like the sound of our company, give us a ring on 01727 812725 and we’ll see how we can help you out.

We are looking to update our Work Placement scheme for 2022, so drop us an email if you’d like to be updated as and when this develops further!