How to Get along with Your Japanese Co-Workers

Just in case you, cannot relate to many of the people in your office, here’s some tips Whatjapanthinks translated from goo Ranking, where they asked members of the goo Research monitor panel on how to improve relations with your workmates in Japan.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 25th of January 2008 1,126 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.4% of the sample was female, 3.6% in their teens, 15.8% in their twenties, 35.1% in their thirties, 27.3% in their forties, 11.0% in their fifties, and 7.3% aged sixty or older. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample.

Ranking results

Q: What is the best way to improve relations with your workmates? (Sample size=1,126)
Rank Score
1 Talk to them frequently 100
2 Go to lunch together 69.6
3 Go out drinking with them 65.4
4 Share private life topics (hobbies, family, etc) 63.7
5 Praise your co-workers 60.7
6 Listen to their complaints 58.8
7 Work as part of the same team 55.1
8 Ask after people who are off sick 40.5
9 Pass them souvenirs from business trips, holidays 36.9
10 Hand out sweeties 26.6

Source: Whatjapanthinks