1. Be friendly. Have a friendly face and smile as often as possible. When people ask you how you are doing, always remain positive and upbeat. Individuals are drawn to happy people.
2. Talk. Take every opportunity to introduce yourself to those you have never met; whether you are standing in line for the coffee machine or riding the elevator. If you are a little shy you can always start by talking about work related things first. If you need too, take some time on your off hours to think of things you could bring up to talk about with others.
3. Listen. Individuals love to connect with people that genuinely listen to them. It is rare to find people really willing to listen. Don't just blankly stare while the person talks with you. Listen intently and offer genuine responses. Beware of individuals that might enjoy using you as just a sounding board and nothing more.
4. Break through cliques. No matter where you are cliques are inevitable. Don't concern yourself with them. Simply befriend individuals in any grouping. Some groups will be more difficult to break into. You will have to evaluate if it is really worth your while to break into this grouping.
5. Limit habits that are offensive to others. This would include things like swearing, wearing heavy perfume or cologne. Make sure you are properly groomed and use good hygiene. Don't be a complainer.
6. Join Groups. Most organizations have some kind of group, whether professional or not. Identify the groups that exist and decide which best suit your personality and interests. Join up!
7. Avoid Loners. Most places have one or two individuals that stand out as Loners. While they probably are very nice people, if you really want to be friends with the majority of people at work you should probably try to befriend those that are more visible.
8. Break out of your comfort zone. Try to befriend those that you don't directly work with. It is very common for people to hang around those that they deal with directly every day. Be bold, talk to someone that you don't normally associate with.
9. "Do Lunch". Lunch is where individuals are able to stop for a moment and break out of the work mold and talk about more social aspects of living. Do what you can to get yourself invited to go to lunch or invite people to come with you.
10. Volunteer. Take the opportunity to help those outside of your department or office and work with others. The nature of volunteering already endears individuals to you for taking time to help them out in a situation of need. True friendships can evolve from such service.
11. Include others. Let people around you know what you are doing, whether it is a work project or something you might be setting up for others. If you need help, ask for it.
12. Extend invitations to others. Take a chance and invite people from work to go to social events. Most individuals will be happy to take you up on your offer. Find things that you have in common to invite them too, such as a baseball game or picnic. The worst they can say is No!