Community Interpreting
Self-Management in a Growing Organisation
Self-Management in a Growing Organisation
Authors: Ulrike Fuehrer | Director at Context
“If we change the way work works, we can live the dream of work-life balance and sustainability” Ricardo Semler: The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works
Self-management is not a new concept, yet one that is understood in many different ways.
Self-management based on equal access to key business data, joint decision-making, a flat hierarchy and a strong focus on personal growth and professional development has always been the modus operandi of the Context team. The Irish company was founded over 30 years ago to provide outstanding language services to an international clientele, delivered by a highly motivated team of language experts and supported by state-of-the-art proprietary technology.
Fast forwarding to 2025, a lot has changed – yet the company remains true to its values and delivers on its vision. The formula has been refined and is now shared and promoted by 4 self-managing teams operating within a much larger overall organisation.
Self-Management and Scaling
For a small, dedicated team it was intuitive and perfectly attainable to acquire the business acumen needed to shape the company’s strategic direction and develop its service portfolio, to promote the way we work and incorporate the company values in our daily activities.
In the past 3 years, however, the Context team has tripled in number. At the same time, continuous technical improvements of our operational processes have freed up capacity, improved our operational well-being and allowed us to spend more time listening to clients and adapting our services to their changing requirements.
These rapid parallel developments gave rise to unprecedented challenges for a self-managing organisation. They also created ample opportunity for individual specialisation, professional development and role formation. The multitude of emerging tasks exceeded our existing capacities and were adopted by new joiners, with the established operational teams providing the hands-on expertise. Examples for project managers and supporters jointly tackling new tasks include focus areas such as Leadership development, Client Relationship support, Sustainability agenda and AI Research, Quality, Information and Cybersecurity systems, and Communication strategies. Experts in each of these areas are briefed by the operational teams which cooperate closely on strategy and implementation.
Courage and Determination
It took courage to leave the comfort zone of our familiar processes and daily routines. Change can be unsettling. And it has also been invigorating and inspiring to think outside the box, to flirt with new challenges, discover new interests and develop one’s strengths in ways we may not have imagined.
It may be daunting to prepare and deliver an overview of your team’s business performance to the whole company; or to self-organise annual leave in a fair and just way within a large, intricately interwoven team; or to initiate difficult conversations to address and resolve a cross-departmental challenge; or to become a self-management champion and inhabit a space which should fall to ‘Leadership’. Targeted, hands-on training in self-management and in various business aspects has been the key ingredient in turning our multiple challenges and learnings into great successes. Business skill sets, strategic thinking and ownership behaviours are promoted in a purposeful, deliberate manner.
Determination is needed to venture out into new ways of working and to try out different roles and tasks. The initiatives that the Context teams have taken and the bold changes we made jointly were however amply rewarded: enhanced work satisfaction, augmented personal and professional growth and real connection are some of the benefits of our self-management efforts. Recognition is earned by one’s contribution to the thriving of the team and of the individual, by unique and welcome initiatives to the benefit of others, by consistency and commitment.
The new, larger Context is more than ever committed to meaningful work, excellence in service delivery and healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with all stakeholders. From where I stand, I see a growing number of dedicated, enthusiastic individuals building powerful teams which play to their strengths and live their values.
“For a company to excel, employees must be reassured that self-interest, not the company’s, is their foremost priority.” Ricardo Semler, The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works
What does your ideal place of work look like? Would a 4-day work week be of interest to you?
Sustainability - At the Heart of What We Do
Sustainability - At the Heart of What We Do
Author: Miriam Finglass | Translation Project Manager
At Context, Sustainability is much more than just a buzzword. It’s one of our most important values and a guiding principle in what we do. It is at the core of our activities, informing our interaction with clients and suppliers and the way we collaborate and grow as a team. Here we highlight some practical aspects of our sustainability efforts in relation to the environment, health and wellbeing and community.
Environmental Sustainability
The Context team works towards continuously reducing our environmental impact. Some of our actions and achievements to date include:
- An almost paperless office through digital invoicing and printing only when necessary
- Installation at the Context office of a solar PV system that powers all Context servers and desktops
- Switching to a provider that supplies electricity from 100% renewable energy sources
- Zoned heating at our office to reduce our carbon footprint
- Our office environment contributes to local biodiversity with one acre of native woodland and wildflowers
- Flexible hybrid work for our team members avoids long commutes and reduces our employees’ carbon footprints
- Participation in tree-planting at Hometree, Co. Clare to help restore native Irish woodlands
- Taking part in the Climate Heroes Challenge.
Climate Heroes Challenge
From 15 – 26 April, Context team members together with some of our freelance linguists, took part in the Climate Heroes Challenge organised by Global Action Plan. Two Context teams competed against each other and the other community groups taking part around Ireland to reduce their carbon footprint. Each team member logged daily activities on the Climate Heroes simple and easy to use platform, which showed encouraging real-time calculations of our carbon savings. It was a fun, enjoyable experience and helped to develop habits that will stick with us into the future. And we had some nice prizes for the winners! Across all teams, participants in the challenge saved a combined total of 43 tonnes of CO₂. To put that into perspective, if everyone in Ireland did this, it would amount to a 63% reduction in Ireland’s total annual consumption-based emissions. Context also made a donation to support community programmes in Global Action Plan’s GLAS community gardens and nature explorer programme. The next Climate Heroes Challenge will be happening in October 2024 and we’ll be looking to improve on our performance even more!
Health and Wellbeing
At Context, we know that health and wellbeing are vital for working sustainably. We have an optional and customisable health and wellbeing programme for employees. In this programme, employees form pairs of health and wellbeing buddies. Each employee chooses their own health and wellbeing goals from categories covering Eating Well, (Home) Office Ergonomics, Financial Wellbeing, Personal-Professional Development, Physical Exercise, Positive Impact, Quality Sleep, Personal Activities, Social Interaction and Workload Balancing. Once they’ve decided on their goals, employees discuss them with their buddy, who they then meet with regularly to catch up on how things are going. A great positive of the programme is that it’s completely up to the employee to decide on their goals and what they want to share with their buddy. Goals could include taking more exercise or getting better sleep, making more time for social activities or hobbies, improving work-life balance etc., but they can be anything the employee wants to achieve in terms of their health and wellbeing. Since employees can choose their own goals, they can be more realistic than is often the case in one-size-fits-all programmes. Another advantage is that the programme is motivating without being stressful, as regular catchups are intended as a fun, friendly opportunity to pause, think about, define and discuss goals and progress on an ongoing basis, aiming for continuous improvement. In addition to their personal commitment, the catchups with their buddy create an increased sense of accountability for employees. And to top it off, employees who participate in the programme take an extra annual leave day per quarter, a wellbeing day, a great opportunity to pursue their personal health and wellbeing objectives.
Community
At Context, we value the important contribution of all our freelance linguists and we support their fair and just treatment in relation to rates and working conditions. We believe that freelance translation and interpreting should be a sustainable activity. My colleague Ulrike Fuehrer’s article What is a ‘Translator’? details the important work done by our community interpreters in often very challenging situations. It highlights the need to create a robust and sustainable job profile for community interpreters. Despite the growing numbers in migrant communities in Ireland today, no coherent government approach to the training and accreditation of community interpreters exists. In light of this reality, Context provides support to community interpreters in the form of training and resources. Without the vital work of our community interpreters, equal access to public services for migrant communities would not exist. Through our work with our community interpreters and our strong working relationships with community and public sector institutions, Context supports equal access of migrant communities in Ireland to public sector services such as medical care, legal supports, asylum seeking, citizenship rights and employment. We hope that this contributes to the creation of sustainable communities in Ireland, now and into the future.
What does Sustainability mean to you? Will you join the next Climate Heroes Challenge?
Communication Across Language Barriers: Guidelines for Success
Communication Across Language Barriers: Guidelines for Success
Author: Ulrike Fuehrer | Director at Context
Successful communication is something we all strive for and at times may struggle with.
The aim of effective communication which leaves both sender and receiver satisfied, requires a deliberate approach when we do not speak the language of the other person, and our conversation is mediated by an interpreter. In Ireland, scheduled appointments with public sector organisations that are facilitated by an interpreter occur approximately 1000 times per working day. Additionally, unplanned events in Emergency Rooms, at Garda Stations or with social or asylum support services require language interpretation, if members of the public are not sufficiently confident to hold the conversation in English.
The lack of a common language can be a source of frustration to both parties, to the member of the public and the public service provider alike. Living in a country or in a world where you do not understand the – spoken or signed – language is deeply frustrating and leads to increased exclusion. The least we can do to initiate a virtuous circle of empowerment and equal access to public services, apart from supporting cultural awareness, community level solidarity and progressive state led policies, is to ensure that service users of all nationalities are well supported and can be heard.
In its Report on Refugees and Integration from November 2023, the Irish Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth references interpreting services in one of its 96 recommendations: ‘Refugees of all nationalities should be supported equally and offered the same services, in particular translation services.’ However, the recommendations extend solely to the use of remote online interpreting services, which may be suitable when it comes to exchanging facts and figures, but may not be appropriate for consultations on sensitive cases or with vulnerable children or adults. The lack of adequate video-conferencing facilities or even two-way telephone systems in most public service settings would be one obstacle, together with uncertainty about the role of an interpreter and how or where to source interpreting services.
If you currently use interpreting services for your client appointments or wish to prepare for when you will need an interpreter to assist, you may find these guidelines helpful:
1. Expect the interpreted appointment to take longer, schedule additional time
2. Establish what language the client speaks well before the actual appointment date
3. Book an interpreter of that language in good time, provide details of the reason for the appointment, so the interpreting company can select and brief the best suited interpreter
4. Before the appointment, introduce yourself to the client via the interpreter, and allow the interpreter to briefly outline their role, in both languages
5. During the appointment, talk directly to the client using plain language, and allow the interpreter to be both your and your client’s voice
6. Ensure that the interpreter meets the client in your presence only
7. Pick up on the client’s body language and ask for clarification via the interpreter
8. Summarise any actions/advice/instructions for your client at the end of the appointment
9. Rebook the interpreter for any follow-on appointments via their company
10. Provide any feedback and special requirements to the interpreting company.
Clients can contact us at interpreting@context.ie if you require staff training on ‘How to Work Well With Interpreters’ – we are happy to deliver the relevant training to you, onsite or online, to support you in communicating successfully with any service users who speak languages other than English.
What is a ‘Translator’?
What is a ‘Translator’?
Author: Ulrike Fuehrer | Director at Context
“A big round of applause to our translators without whom this meeting would not have been possible”. The world thinks very highly of conference interpreters. How can they possibly listen and speak at the same time, and render in a different language what they just heard, with a delay of only 3 seconds, or even finish the sentence before the key note speaker who is racing through their presentation at breakneck speed.
While I have interpreted hundreds of meetings of this kind and assisted heads of state and government on their various missions abroad, my own admiration and deep respect goes to a different group of ‘translators’: those who facilitate communication with refugees and victims of war in reception centres, who assist the family of a terminally ill patient in a hospice, who communicate bad news to the parents of a new born baby, those who assist busy nurses, stressed front-line staff, prosthetic surgeons, A&E staff trying to manage long lines of patients on trolleys. All in the one day, every day.
I’m speaking of our freelance community interpreters.
Every community interpreter I have met is motivated by humanitarian aspects, by the desire to help, to facilitate communication, to make a meaningful contribution to having patients, clients, refugees, children, vulnerable adults provided with adequate support.
Community interpreters are a typically underpaid, underrated, untrained cohort of linguists without whom, however, equal access to public services would not exist. Their fate is largely determined by public procurement; where working conditions are set by tender competitions, and where service quality is compromised by rates per hour (or even per minute), dictated by a tendering authority.
If we want to create a robust and sustainable job profile for community interpreters who choose this as a career path and develop to become the best professionals they can be, we need to talk about budgets, about ownership and about political will. Training and professionalisation for community interpreters come at a cost. There are some – albeit rudimentary – training courses currently available, and comprehensive training expertise in community interpreting does exist in Ireland.
Where simultaneous conference interpreters (who process the spoken word in real time) and translators (of written text) have university degrees and the prospect of or actual experience of an adequate income, community interpreters struggle to make a living from their service. Despite the key role community interpreters play in making health care, education, local government services etc. accessible for everyone.
15 years ago, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) was about to set up a state register of trained and accredited community interpreters, when the banking crisis defeated this project. Waiting for the tide to turn again does not address the current, urgent need for qualified community interpreters of a broad range of languages. At Context, we do what we can to recruit, onboard, support, train and professionalise hundreds of community interpreters to take on the daily challenges. We try to motivate our freelancers and fight for their recognition. Every respectful service user is appreciated. Every positive comment helps.
What is your experience, as an interpreter, service user or observer?
