You want to boost sales this quarter, so you launch a competition among your sales team. The person who can get the most sales this quarter will win a free weekend getaway! All the salespeople scramble to get their strategy in place, they call on their clients, sales go through the roof, and the competition heats up.

“Competition at its base is what has driven us as a species to survive. It drives biological and psychological evolution,” says Craig Dike, clinical psychologist and assistant clinical director of Doctor on Demand. Competition can be a form of extrinsic motivation, such as the weekend getaway prize, doing something because of the promise of an external reward; or it can be a form of intrinsic motivation, an achievement of a personal goal.

Whether internal or external, competition can increase motivation, improve productivity and performance, and provide accountability and validation. Here’s how you can use competition to boost your team’s performance.

Read more at FastCompany.com.