Your place of employment can be a tough one. You’d likely never choose to spend 40 hours per week with coworkers. Even so, you have to.

But your work relationships don’t have to be a drain. You can make even the worst ones tolerable.

Here are 5 tips to help you succeed with co-workers.

1. Be the coworker you want.

You don’t want to work with an ice cube or a wet towel, do you? Neither does anyone else.

Share about your life outside of work. The hall and the water cooler, during a break, are great places to talk about what happens to you when you aren’t at the office.

But be careful not spill your guts and share too much. Exchange personal anecdotes while exercising caution.

2. Complain up and praise down.

If something at work really bothers you, tell your supervisor – not your coworker.

Complaining to a coworker is easier than talking with a supervisor. But even if your coworker is experiencing what you are, talk to your supervisor. He has the responsibility and power to fix the problem, not your coworker.

In addition, praise your coworkers.

Consider the last time someone caught you doing excellent work and told you about it. Remember how good that felt? If you do that for others, people will love you. They may even start to think of you as the ‘Great job!’ guy.

Just try it. Start catching people doing the right thing and letting them know about it. See what happens.

3. Be efficient.

Efficiency is a beautiful thing. Successful workers prioritize, plan, and allow for setbacks.

Doing these things can be a hard. You may feel as though you don’t have time to plan. But just 3-5 minutes before your shift may be all the time you need to create a plan for the day (or week!).

A plan will multiply your impact. And it can free up some of your time for interpersonal relationships.

4. Ask to help.

Ask your coworkers if they would like a hand – or an extra set of eyes – for a job they’re doing.

It’s easy to have a that’s not my problem mentality at work. And thinking this way from time to time is helpful.

In most workplaces, however, collaboration gets the job done best. Two things are likely to happen when you ask to help.

First, you’ll get the job done quickly. Most of the time, two or more people working together finish faster than one person working by himself. (And if you help a coworker, he’ll likely return the favor.)

Second, your supervisor may start to see you as an initiative taker and valuable team player.

5. Be the first to volunteer.

Though volunteering first is uncomfortable and people may perceive you as a kiss up, do it anyway. It’ll be worth it in the long run.

When you go first, you serve others. Your boss won’t have to call out a victim from among the staff because no one’s volunteering. And people will appreciate your for this.

But don’t overdo it. Think balance. Volunteer – but not so often that you overload yourself.

Now, think about the flip side. If you don’t volunteer, coworkers might perceive you as stubborn, uncooperative, or scared.

Volunteer. It’s not the end of the world.

Try one or two of these tips. Make the most of the 40 hours you’re going to spend with coworkers this week.

If you have other thoughts, suggestions, or feedback, I’d love to hear from you.

This article is a guest post by Steve Bowers. Steve and his wife, Miriam, write regularly at ourconsecratedhome.com. If you’d like to get in touch with Steve, click HERE to send him an email.