Frequently asked questions

Find your questions below and click through to our witty answers. Miss one? Drop your questions at team@part-up.com

​What is a part-up?
A part-up is a temporary team that works together to realize a shared purpose.

​What is an upper?
An upper is a user of Part-up. Someone who is open for collaboration. So even though we’re a Dutch startup, we’re not talking about drugs here :). ​

How do I login to Part-up?
On http://part-up.com you see two buttons in the top right corner. Register and login. Choose register the first time. You can only login once you registred. Once you’ve registered you’ll automatically be logged in.

Should I login using Facebook and LinkedIn?
If you login using Facebook or LinkedIn, we’ll automatically link your account and you don’t have to remember a separate Part-up password. Choose your favorite. If you prefer not to use these, you can simply register on Part-up without Facebook or LinkedIn. Take care that you’ll use the same way off logging in as you registered next time, so you will not create different accounts for yourself.

How do I join a part-up?
You can join a part-up by starting the conversation on the update timeline. At that moment you will be a supporter of the part-up. If you apply to do one of the activities, by clicking “I want to do this”, you’ll be asked for your motivation. Why should you be the one to work with and do this activity? Once you’re accepted by the current partners, you’ll be a partner in the part-up as well. You’ve joined! Realize that from this moment on, you’re expected to be committed to the part-up result. Your contribution(s) will be rated by the other partners.

Why do I have to rate my partners?
Feedback is a positive thing. You can learn from the feedback of others to improve yourself and your teamwork. We will also use this feedback to introduce you to new part-ups that fit your profile.

How can I rate the partners in my part-up?
Once you’re a partner in the part-up, you can rate the contributions to activities of other partners. Click on one of the activities and on the right hand side of every contribution you’ll see “no rating yet” or the current average rating of this partner. You can give ratings by adjusting the slider to the positive right side, or negative left side, according to your feelings about the contribution. You can also add extra text to explain your feedback.

Who can see my rating?
We’re developing an overview of all the ratings you gave and received. Click on anyone’s profile to see their rating and the feedback they gave others. We love transparency. We believe feedback is a positive thing and will make you better. Remember that the feedback you give is also visible on your profile. Rating helps you to find your talents, and helps others to select the best team members.

What happens if I get a bad rating
Congratulations, you have just learned something to improve. Feel free to ask the person that gave you the rating how you can do it better next time. Be open to learn. And try to get more (and better) ratings. People understand that someone who is rated a little less positive only once, isn’t always a bad team player. Especially not if you’ve gathered many good ratings to balance out the occasional not so great ones. We make sure negative feedback won’t stick to your profile for life. ​

What is a partner?
A partner is an upper in your team who does at least one of the activities in your part-up. You can become a partner by applying for one of the activities. A partner is allowed to add and edit the Part-up description and activities. Any partner can accept new partners to the part-up.

What is a supporter?
Uppers support your part-up by giving you tips and by sharing their knowledge and experience. You can become a supporter by leaving a message for the team on the update time line of a part-up, or simply by clicking the “Support” button.

What is an activity?
A part-up is built out of activities. Activities are created to allow uppers to take part in certain parts of the part-up. Every activity can have one or more partners who execute the activity. Make sure you complete all activities before the end date of the part-up (or edit the end date of course ;-) ). ​

How can I invite other uppers to my part-up?
There are several options to invite uppers to your part-up. First you see the sharing buttons on the right-bottom of your part-up. Share the URL to your part-up on social media or through mail. Since uppers can only join a part-up by selecting a specific activity that they want to do, the best thing is to invite uppers from an activity. Click on the activity you want to share and select invite uppers. You see suggested uppers by our matching algorithm. You can also search for people that created a Part-up account. If you can’t find anyone, but you know their mail, you can select ‘Invite uppers by e-mail’. Enter a name and a mailadres and they will receive an automated message to join your part-up. ​

Change the mail program
When you click on the share by mail button, it will open your default mail program. To change this you have to alter your local device settings. On windows this is: http://windows.microsoft.com/nl-nl/windows/change-default-programs#1TC=windows-7 ​

Why can I only invite uppers to activities and not to my part-up?
We believe that you only become team member by actively contributing to the Part-up. Moreover, all partners have a shared responsibility for the Part-up result. You cannot be held responsible if you are not involved in the execution of at least one of the activities.

How can I change the order of my activities?
Activities are displayed in the order they have been entered. If you want to change this order you can add a date to the activity. Click on the activity, choose edit and set a date. The activities will now be sorted in time. ​

Can I share part-ups on social media
Yes, and you should! As much as possible! If you want to let people know about the existence of your part-up, you can always share your part-up on social media, or send a link by mail. You’ll find the share buttons at the bottom right of your part-up. ​

Can I use Part-up in my organization?
Yes, Part-up is designed to (organize) work both inside, between and outside organizations. You can request a tribe, to share work (part-ups) inside your organization. ​

What is a tribe?
A tribe is a public, invite-only or private environment of uppers and part-ups. Tribes can be branded and managed by the tribe leader. Tribes allow a group of people and part-ups to stick together. ​

How do I get a tribe?
You can request pricing and tribe information at www.part-up.com/pricing ​

Do I need a tribe?
No you don’t, but it might be handy! Especially if you work together often with a specific group of people. Organizations, departments but also communities of self employed or social communities can organize themselves in a tribe and manage their part-ups and uppers. ​

Why do I have to add a picture to my part-up?
There are a lot of part-ups to choose from. So why should people start working on yours? We know: because it’s you. But others might not. Therefore pick an appealing picture, something that symbolizes what you want to realize together. It will trigger other uppers to join! ​

Who can accept partners to part-up?
Part-up is build on trust. The one to start the part-up is able to accept his or her first partner. From there on you’re equals; every partner can accept a new partner. Therefore communication between partners is key. And of course the updates show who accepted the new partner. ​

How many partners or supporters can join my part-up?
We did not set a limit to the amount of uppers joining your part-up. Not for partners, nor for supporters. But we know that teams are most effective when you are with a maximum of eight people. Do you need more partners? Then think about organizing your team in a set of linked part-ups. Oh! You can’t have enough supporters, a good suggestion or tip can always come in handy.

What is the maximum duration of a part-up?
There is no technical time limit to the duration of a part-up. We do however always ask you to set an end date for your part-up. Because short term projects will keep the energy of the team members flowing. And by setting an end date, they are able to commit to your part-up. Because no one can commit to something for life. Except for me and my wife of course. ​

What is that number added to my profile picture?
We gave you a magic number! Hope you like it. The magic number corresponds with your activity and reliability on Part-up. If you are very active your number might rise. To what level? The next level!

Why should I add my social profiles and phone number?
By sharing your social media profiles people get an impression of you as a person. Who you are, what you do or what you find interesting? This will make your profile more trustworthy. And adding your phone number and Skype name gives your partners the possibility to reach out to you in person (soon these will be visible for the partners in your part-up).

Why do I need a premium account for a private part-up?
By working together on Part-up each upper is creating value. You share knowledge, co-create your project and give others access to work. When you create a private part-up, only the invited uppers to that part-up will benefit. That’s why we ask you to provide an alternative value to the community, by paying a small fee. And of course it helps us to pay expenses and keep improving the value of Part-up for you!

How many uppers can join a tribe?
As with the part-ups, we don’t limit you to a maximum of uppers to join your tribe. We do have some advice though. Best practise is that around 100 - 150 uppers in a tribe (at max.) will work best. This way you will still be able to get to know them in person and at the same time have a fair chance that the skills you’re looking for can be found within your tribe (and you can always invite uppers outside of your tribe in your part-ups).

How many part-ups can I start within a tribe?
There is no limit to the number of part-ups you can start within a tribe. The more the better, because this means your Part-up tribe is working for you! ​

Can I pay people to work on my part-up?
Yes, you can. When you create a part-up you can indicate the available budget. This is a signal for uppers that they can earn some money when they apply. In part-ups with budget we allow people to apply for an activity with an number of hours and an hour rate. It’s up to the partners in the part-up to accept or reject the proposed contribution. Please motivate rejections, so people can apply again, perhaps with a lower hour rate. Currently we’re not facilitating the billing process yet. ​

Can I earn money working in part-ups?
Yes. We believe in a future full of jobs for anyone. You’ll be able to participate both in paid and unpaid part-ups. It’s our vision to allow an income for anyone in part-ups with their talents. Of course this requires enough people willing to start part-ups with budget, or people that add budget to part-ups. ​

Can I delete my account?
Currently is not available to delete your account automatically yet. We’re working on this feature. Please let us know by mail (info@part-up.com) so we can delete your account manually.

Why are all partners equal?
Because no one can be more equal than others. Every partner brings a unique value to the team. And you will need each partner to realize the shared purpose, and therefore their commitment. If you want someone to do (or not do) something, the easiest way is to just ask them. You can of course still introduce roles in your part-up to organize collaboration, if you like.

How do I keep an overview?
The activities page in your part-up is designed to maintain an overview of all activities. If this list becomes to long, you might want to consider starting another part-up for certain activities. In future development we want to allow users to create linked part-ups. In this way you can create a hierarchy of part-ups. Which can be necessary for larger program or project management.

How do I settle an argument with my partners within a part-up?
How do you settle an argument in real life? There you have your answer (hope you don’t regularly use your fists...). You will have to face your fears and talk about the issues. You might conclude that it is better if one of the partners leaves the part-up. In practice this means that he or she will have to delete their contributions from the activities in the part-up.

How can I report inappropriate behavior of other uppers?
First of all we’re sorry that you encountered inappropriate behavior on Part-up. We’re working hard to make this a positive community of people with an drive to realize cool part-ups. So be sure to make clear to the upper that his or her behavior is not accepted. We hope this will have the desired effect! If not, you can always report any inappropriate behavior at team@part-up.com. The Part-up Police will come and help you get the bad guys! ​

Why is Part-up free to use?
We believe the Part-up way of working is how work should be organized. We intend to give the world an infrastructure to organize anything with less organizations. This will make the world a better place. Part-up is a social impact start-up, returning its profit to create more impact. Part-up can also be free because people can buy tribes and premium accounts. With tribes and a premium account users can fence off their part-ups. Doing this, they don’t add value to the network effect of growing Part-up. Therefore they pay a fee as an alternative way of adding value :)!

Why did no else come up with the idea of Part-up?
This is something we ponder over every day (no, not really). But, if it is such a simple idea, then why are we the only one around? Please let us know, if you find anyone with a similar marketplace for teamwork. We like to co-operate with other initiatives to automatically match people in teams.

How is Part-up different?
We are in between two types of platforms: The current collaboration software assumes that you have team already (Slack, Yammer, Basecamp, Trello, … ). Part-up helps you build a team! The current competence marketplaces all give you one person (Elance, Freelancer, Twago, …), Part-up gives you a team!

Should I use Part-up if I have my team already?
Even though we’re focused on giving you a team, there is a good reason to use Part-up with your current team anyway. First, you can define and allocate activities together. Second, you can rate each others contributions to activities. This rating will add to your profile and help all team members to be matched and get access to better teams in the future! So take your team, and be welcome! ​

Can I copy part-ups?
We created the possibility to copy the activities from one part-up to another. When you start a Part-up, you’ll find a button on the second step (the activity page) saying: Copy activities from another part-up. We’re planning to make template part-ups in the near future. ​

Where can I meet the founders?
We’re building Part-up out of part-ups. Feel free to join us in creating parts of our wonderful platform and the ‘organizing without organization’ movement. We love to meet while doing something useful to the world :) Oh, and we like to party too. Join one of our events that we will announce through social media! ​

Where is your HQ?
Part-up Bink 36, Office M0.55 Binckhorstlaan 36 2516 BE The Hague The Netherlands

Does the part-up source code have an open source license?
Not yet. But it is our ambition to open up as much as possible for the crowd.

Is there anyway to track action - not just comment on the activities and messages?
We are still in the very basics. We have some future ideas about how this can be integrated. Currently we had to focus on just allowing discussion on activities, leaving it up to the user’s to inform each other and perhaps switch to another tool. We choose to focus on becoming a team (matching), giving us a special position in the field of collaboration software.