How to communicate professionally on Upwork

Upwork is a platform for professionals to connect and work together. Whether you’re a client or a freelancer,it is crucial to follow our communication and payment guidelines strictly.

Here's what that means in practice.

Four rules to follow

1. Tell the truth
Always be honest and clear in your communications. This builds trust, which is essential for successful working relationships. Be truthful about your business, skills, and experience.

2. Ask questions
Ensure you fully understand the project before starting. Freelancers should identify projects that match their strengths, and clients should choose the best freelancer for their needs. Communication outside Upwork is only permitted once a contract has begun, as outlined in Section 7 of our User Agreement.

3. Build trust
Trust is hard to build and easy to lose. Keep your commitments, be respectful, and maintain open communication to foster trust.

4. Be honest
If project details like timeline or scope change, discuss them promptly to agree on the best way forward.

Five things to avoid

1. Being abusive
Abusive, threatening, or harassing behavior is unacceptable and will result in disciplinary action. Report any such behavior to our team for resolution.

2. Plagiarism
Do not pass off someone else's work as your own. Respect copyright and intellectual property rights.

3. Going silent
Maintain consistent communication once you have an agreement. If someone you're working with has gone silent, dispute services might be able to help.

4. Sharing contact or payment information prior to contract start
Sharing your contact information or asking others to share contact information before a contract starts may result in temporary restrictions, or in some cases, permanent loss of account access.

5. Creating fake projects and reviews (“feedback building”)
Do not create fake projects or reviews to manipulate job history and ratings. Such actions undermine trust and are banned under our Terms of Service.