What was, what’s here to stay and what’s next?

To kick off the new year, we sat down with our CEO Ulrich Barnewitz. In a fireside chat, he revealed his answers to these three pressing questions in the context of Wieners+Wieners.

There’s no denying the fact that 2021 was a challenging year on many fronts. In the working world, digital technology is proving to be increasingly vital for businesses to survive.

The rapidly changing pace of society in recent years has, in turn, led to the introduction of new processes and requirements on our end. Technology is one such aspect, with automation and constantly evolving machine translation tools becoming more and more integrated into our systems.

Similarly, linguistic intuition is also undergoing a change. Today, monosyllabic sentences, slang, dialects and deliberate errors are being commonly used even in professional communications. The use of language is becoming more diverse – blurring the lines between what’s acceptable and what’s not in the process

As a language service provider (LSP), we happen to work in a field that thrives on versatility and growth. After all, as translators, we enable good, lively communication across different channels and bridge the language gap across disparate cultures.

Diversity also means a new, flexible approach to work. From home and at the office – a mix of both these options will become the new norm in many sectors. For us, this approach is already a reality. We work with a wealth of tools and devices and have virtual meetings with people based in different locations. Today, we can focus far more on completing our tasks and satisfying our customers’ requirements rather than thinking in terms of rigid office hours. This flexibility also helps strike a better balance between work and family life, thus increasing the individual sense of responsibility and time management.

We have successfully adapted this changing approach by enabling our employees to work both remotely and on-site – not just during the acute phases of the pandemic but also in the long term.

Current uncertainties in planning are also progressively shortening timelines on our customers’ projects. As a result, the production and correction of texts must be carried out at an equally rapid pace while maintaining the same quality. Moreover, the technology landscape among our customers is becoming much more varied, calling for customised interface solutions on our part. In the coming year, one thing is for certain – technological change will continue to take centre stage.

These developments are paving the way for an exciting future, offering up a wide array of opportunities and challenges that we need to exploit and overcome. The more technological things become, the more important actual dialogue and active communication between people will be. I’m excited to help shape this dynamic tomorrow together as a company.

It’s with this resolute determination that we at Wieners+Wieners are going into the new year. As an LSP, we have long relied on an optimal combination of artificial intelligence AND human intuition. We will continue to invest consistently in both translation and process technologies – and in our employees.

In 2022, we want to embark on our journey of growth hand in hand, making our progress tangible and visible to the outside world. This year will also mark the transformation of Wieners+Wieners into the German arm of the Apostroph Group. This change will help us further pool our expertise and bring the best of both worlds together – ‘creativity meets technology’.

We remain a trusted partner offering a wide variety of language, technology and consulting services. Going forward, we will continue to provide quick and efficient translations and proofreads that hit the mark in terms of content, correctness and style. Because here at Wieners+Wieners, the one thing that won’t change is the fact that humans will always have the last word!