Benefits of using interpretation services for your business

Many people might ask why interpretation services are so important to modern-day businesses. Why are they important? In short, they are a critical factor to improving the success of international business, especially in globalized marketplaces. 

A quote from a 1983 article called “The Globalization of Markets” by Theodore Levitt in the Harvard Business Review illustrates the point quite nicely: “The globalization of markets is at hand. With that, the multinational commercial world nears its end, and so does the multinational corporation.” What does he mean here? Several points are implied.

The first point is the difference between a globalized market and a multinational corporation. A globalized market implies that technology has levelled the playing field for many corporations that are operating abroad. 

This creates new competition, according to Levitt. Multinational corporations are a thing of the past because the globalized market makes everything standardized, argues Levitt. And if the points were not already driven home, this article was written in 1983. Technology has not only increased its scope since then, but has grown exponentially quickly.

So, in a globalized marketplace, interpretation services are bound to become very prevalent. The distinction as to what makes a good interpretation service is crucial to make, but first we will note some benefits of using professional interpretation services.

One of the benefits that is not often considered is that professional interpretation services will make your business more credible. It will earn you respect in the business world. 

This is especially true in globalized markets, such as many marketplaces that we are working within in today’s world. How does having an interpretation service lend your business credibility? It is easy to note. The credibility is offered because if you are operating within a market that includes two or more cultures in its reach, by using a professional interpretation service, you are automatically showing that you respect both cultures.

This is critical when conducting business across international lines and also when doing business domestically within two cultural frameworks.

Another benefit of using interpretation services is that it will make your processes more efficient. What do I mean by this? I mean that by eliminating errors and cultural misunderstandings, your business will avoid unnecessary costs, time, and extra effort to comprehend what mistakes have been made and troubleshoot those mistakes. It is beneficial to hire a top interpretation agency that works with professionals who understand the cultures involved so that none of these time and money-consuming errors take place. 

Granted, you may not be able to entirely eliminate mistakes, but in using a professional interpretation service, you will drastically enhance the ability of your firm to avoid these costly errors. In using an interpretation service, thus, you will enhance your company’s ability to do what it does best, which is arguably the most important part of your business activities. 

Of course, not all interpretation services are the same, and skills and techniques required to be mastered by the interpreters in question vary widely between sectors and industries. However, it is important to be careful when choosing an interpreter for your business needs. Will this person (or group of people) be more of a resource for your business, or will they be a hindrance to your business activities? This is one of the most important questions to ask before hiring a professional interpretation service (or an individual interpreter). Another question is whether that person or group of people that you are hiring has the specialized knowledge to conduct professional interpreting services in your sector or area of business. For example, court interpreters in the United States must pass a rigorous exam in order to become certified in that capacity. So, looking for interpreters in other fields should take some of the same qualities into account. Does the interpreter or interpretation services have a certification, relevant experience, or educational experience in the field in which your business operates? If none of these criteria are met, it may be time to look elsewhere for an interpreter.

It bears mentioning that the process of using a professional interpretation service for your business is crucial if you wish to maintain or develop an international presence. Some industries may require that you have interpreters, especially between countries that do not have as much cultural or linguistic proximity to one another. For example, an Eastern country such as China does not have as much linguistic or cultural proximity to a country like the United States as a country like Mexico does. Even still, Mexico has its differences which might warrant the use of a professional interpreter in a business context between individuals of both the United States and Mexico, especially if neither party speaks the language of the other. 

There are some ethical concerns in using interpreters, but this usually comes up in the medical field and sometimes the legal field. That is why, as previously mentioned, these types of interpreters usually require more formal training in order to become specialized in those fields. However, in any field, your business will clearly prefer someone who has experience in your industry over someone who does not have experience in that field. The ethical concerns that I mentioned usually have to do with confidentiality, sometimes have to do with malpractice (in fields where that can be an issue), and often have to do with the interpreter’s tone of voice, his or her attitude, and the interpreter’s faithfulness to the original message of the speaker. There are strategies that can mitigate these risks, but it is worth pointing out that risks do exist in using a professional interpretation service. Usually, it is worth asking an interpretation service or an individual interpreter how they plan on addressing these issues, or whether they have dealt with these issues in the past and what their strategies have been to avoid such problems from arising.

There are also different kinds of interpretation that bear mention.

One type is consecutive interpretation. This kind of interpretation is done when there are two parties who wish to communicate with one another in the same room (or it can be done over the telephone). The interpreter will immediately translate the message in his or her mind, usually taking notes on what the party has said and will communicate this to the other party which does not speak the first party’s language in its native tongue. Then, the same interpreter will listen to the second party’s message and will perform the same process except in the other direction to the first party. It is not a simple process, but a skilled interpreter will be able to do this while maintaining strict professionalism, integrity to the original message of the speakers, and with very few errors.

Another type is simultaneous interpretation. This kind of interpretation is used at live events, given that the interpreter must listen to the content of the speech or whatever utterance anyone is making at the event. The interpreter says the message in a different language as the speech unfolds. In other words, the interpreter has to keep up with the speaker. If this kind of interpreter does not keep up with the original speaker, he or she risks getting lost and totally losing the thread of the speech. This kind of interpretation typically requires a great deal of training, as immediate interpretation is a very difficult skill to perform well. 

To wrap this article up, we have explored different types of interpretation, looked at ethical issues in interpretation, looked at some of the benefits and maybe some of the drawbacks of hiring a professional interpretation service, and we have seen how the use of a professional interpretation service can benefit your business. 

Future Group, a translation and interpretation service provider, understands these nuances and complexities in the area of interpretation.

Therefore, it is important to select an interpretation agency that will meet all of your requirements and perform well on the job. If these requirements are not met, or if you are thinking that the interpreter has failed to communicate a key point that needed to be communicated, it may be time to reevaluate this interpreter or interpretation service provider.

However, it is important to bear in mind that there are professional interpretation services out there such as Future Group that can create concrete and tangible benefits for your business. You will need to count on the interpretation service to translate the messages of different business professionals, the messages of other types of people, and even the messages of experts in order to serve your business in the most effective, efficient way. Hopefully, this article has given you a better sense of how a professional interpretation service can benefit your business. 

Now, you are more educated as to how to select a professional interpretation service, how to evaluate the service once you hire them, and how to judge the quality of their work after they have completed a job.