Love ‘em or hate ‘em, we spend a lot of time with our co-workers. Sometimes more time than we spend with our families, so it’s vital that we get along well, not just for our own piece of mind, but to make sure the mission of the organization we work for gets accomplished.

Here are a few tips to grease the machinery of the office environment.

1. Know the difference between coworkers and friends. Unlike the people you hang with in your off time, the group of people in the office are there to achieve success for the organization. Be fair, unbiased and treat everyone with the same even hand.
2. Be honest and straightforward with people; they will find you trustworthy.
3. Practice empathy. Emotional intelligence has become a valuable commodity in the workplace, so take the time to understand where other people are coming from.
4. Listen. Like we tell our children. We have two ears and one mouth, so you should be listening twice as much as talking.
5. Share yourself with everyone. As nice as it is to visit with your “Work buddy” on Monday mornings to find out about their weekend, make it a point to take an interest in everyone.
6. Don’t be stingy with compliments (but don’t go overboard.) And it goes without saying, make sure the compliments are workplace friendly. “Great job on that report” not “smoking hot body, Jim!”
7. Smiles, everyone, smiles! Putting on a cheerful face, even in stressful times, is always appreciated and is the mark of a leader.