| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: What would you do if you got sick while working on a project? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "What would you do if you got sick while working on a project?".
This poll was originally submitted by Letra. View the poll results »
| | | | Julian Holmes 
Japan
Local time: 02:16
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| Keep working to meet the deadline | Dec 30, 2012 |
However, it depends on how sick you become, i.e. how well you can focus.
If you're running a really high temperature, you lose all of your abilities to concentrate. The worst scenario is running a fever of around 40 degrees while on a difficult and involved job -- one that you just can't delegate -- within a short deadline for an unforgiving customer. 
| | | | Allison Wright (X)
Portugal
Local time: 18:16
Julian Holmes wrote:
However, it depends on how sick you become, i.e. how well you can focus.
Carry on, and make sure I take on light duties only after the deadline. That's the theory, anyway.
[Edited at 2012-12-30 10:00 GMT]
| | | | Tim Drayton
Cyprus
Local time: 20:16
Turkish to English
+ ...
| Keep working to meet the deadline | Dec 30, 2012 |
That is what I have always done until now. I have never missed a deadline so far. My health is very good, but obviously very serious illness would make working impossible, and I would have to play it by ear of this happened.
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Mary Worby
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:16
German to English
+ ...
| It depends ... | Dec 30, 2012 |
As Julian so rightly says, it depends on the job and the level of illness. If I'm just feeling a bit dodgy, I'll probably battle through. But if I'm struck by full-blown flu or the like, I'll try to renegotiate the deadline or hand the job back to the customer. I've found this generally generates greater respect from the customers than struggling through and not producing 100% results.
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:16
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam | Yes, it depends | Dec 30, 2012 |
This is the sort of poll to which no answer other than "Other" seems possible to me. Of course it depends on how ill you are, and also on other factors like how big the job is and how important it is to you.
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I am with Julian and all other colleagues: it depends on the level of illness. In theory, I will carry on. If not possible, I would try to renegotiate a new deadline and, as I have the habit of delivering before time, I will expect a certain level of understanding and sympathy from my long-term customers. I must say that in almost 40 years as a full-time translator I have never faced such a problem, so I will keep my fingers (and toes) crossed if the job is for a new customer.
| | | | | obviously this make sense to me.. | Dec 30, 2012 |
Mary Worby wrote: if I'm struck by full-blown flu or the like, I'll try to renegotiate the deadline or hand the job back to the customer. I've found this generally generates greater respect from the customers than struggling through and not producing 100% results.
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| Keep trying to meet the deadline | Dec 30, 2012 |
This happened to me once. I kept working on it on my laptop in the hospital. When my client found out I was in the hospital, they canceled the rest of a large project.
I usually do very long projects, and I try to keep my deadlines loose enough so that a day under the weather doesn't prevent me from finishing on time. Of course, I wouldn't accept any new work over the duration of the illness.
| | | | Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 19:16
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
| Keep working | Dec 30, 2012 |
Teresa Borges wrote:
I am with Julian and all other colleagues: it depends on the level of illness. In theory, I will carry on. If not possible, I would try to renegotiate a new deadline and, as I have the habit of delivering before time, I will expect a certain level of understanding and sympathy from my long-term customers. ...
Couldn't have said it any better. And it just recently proved to be so when I was down with a bad case of bronchitis just recently. My client granted me a one day extension which gave me a chance to thoroughly poofread my translation again and... deliver it even a couple of hours before the new deadline.
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 19:16
Spanish to English
+ ...
As long as humanly possible. A deadline is a deadline.
In a worst case scenario, I'd try to get someone to dep for me, a trusted friend or colleague, but most have their own fish to fry...
[Edited at 2012-12-30 11:40 GMT]
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Mary Worby wrote:
As Julian so rightly says, it depends on the job and the level of illness. If I'm just feeling a bit dodgy, I'll probably battle through. But if I'm struck by full-blown flu or the like, I'll try to renegotiate the deadline or hand the job back to the customer. I've found this generally generates greater respect from the customers than struggling through and not producing 100% results.
Same here in principle - I can produce the most amazing silly mistakes when I have migraine attacks, and although medication makes me feel fine, I have learnt the hard way that I am still not capable of working reliably for several more hours or overnight.
My regular clients have heard this sort of thing, if not from me, then from others. We 'find a solution' depending on the job and how tight the deadline is.
Sometimes I have been the 'solution' when others have been ill.
I have occasionally asked a colleague to help, but this is not usually an option if I am working for an agency and have signed an NDA.
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Julian Holmes
Japan
Local time: 02:16
Member (2011)
Japanese to English
| A funny thing... | Dec 30, 2012 |
...well not so funny, actually.
If a customer hears you have a recurring condition -- like the trigeminal neuralgia I have -- you can bet your bottom dollar, euro, yen or whatever that they will steer away from you or use this as an excuse to "hold back" on work they were planning on giving you, like in Muriel's case. The slightest whiff of anything sickly and you are on the pariah "always out-of-condition translator" list and automatically side-lined as "not up to par" or the like.... See more ...well not so funny, actually.
If a customer hears you have a recurring condition -- like the trigeminal neuralgia I have -- you can bet your bottom dollar, euro, yen or whatever that they will steer away from you or use this as an excuse to "hold back" on work they were planning on giving you, like in Muriel's case. The slightest whiff of anything sickly and you are on the pariah "always out-of-condition translator" list and automatically side-lined as "not up to par" or the like.
So, I prefer not to tell customers about any sickness unless it is absolutely necessary. And, of course, they conveniently forget that we are all human and avoid admitting to taking days off work because of their own illness(es). ▲ Collapse
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No use pretending everything is going to be alright if isn't. As soon as it becomes evident that it is not going to be possible to deliver the project (and for me that means only thing, delivering sth of the highest possible quality I can provide), then it is vital/courteous/correct business practice to contact the client.
At this stage what you propose depends on how well you know the client. If the client is a newby, what you suggest is going to be a matter of great tact and play... See more No use pretending everything is going to be alright if isn't. As soon as it becomes evident that it is not going to be possible to deliver the project (and for me that means only thing, delivering sth of the highest possible quality I can provide), then it is vital/courteous/correct business practice to contact the client.
At this stage what you propose depends on how well you know the client. If the client is a newby, what you suggest is going to be a matter of great tact and playing it by ear: I believe that it is important to have suggestions for solutions (ie offering an alternative high quality colleauge's services) even if the client rejects them. In overall terms, we have to remember that your illness is far less important to the client than the fact that THEIR client may be about to let down, with all the business implications therein, even if some clients do manage to remember to be sympathetic! So taking the initiative about getting the ongoing problem solved is a positive move.
And if you have a written contractual agreement with your client, it is worth bearing the question of illness in mind and trying to factor it in, in particular if you have a chronic condition.
There is, however, no reason why the client should know the nature of your illness. As a full-time employer you don't even have a right to that, in Spain at any rate, given the rights to privacy protected by current legislation. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Illnesses + hospital admissions | Dec 30, 2012 |
The slightest whiff of anything sickly and you are on the pariah "always out-of-condition translator" list and automatically side-lined as "not up to par" or the like.
So, I prefer not to tell customers about any sickness unless it is absolutely necessary. And, of course, they conveniently forget that we are all human and avoid admitting to taking days off work because of their own illness(es).
That is exactly why I kept silent when some years ago I had a total thyroidectomy. I managed to finish all the projects before the surgery and during my recovery I engaged a secretary. Everything went well and most customers did not notice what was going on...
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