How can you use recognition and rewards to promote teamwork in the workplace?

There should be healthy competition within the team to increase productivity like having "Star Performer of the week", Spot Award, Pat On The Back are couple of awards which can be given instantly. This gives visibility to team members that their contributions are being valued by management.

To celebrate and elevate the team as often as possible is a good thing. This emphasis on the team instead of the individual encourages team members to be more collaborative. However, one of thing I have found helpful to be on the look-out for do-nothings within the team. These are people who hide under the group but perform little to no work. They are often good pretenders. So for a balance, celebrating team work would be effective if do-nothings are often identified and penalized. Without this, the chief contributors in a team will eventually become demoralized and might even sabotage or leave the organization.

In my experience, consistent informal feedback and coaching is more effective than formal feedback & coaching although it should always be in place in a venture. Here is why: In any venture there is often a significant amount of informal moments despite the degree of formality within the organization's culture. These moments are low-stress moments for both the receiver of the feedback and the giver. During these moments, respectful, considerate, coaching and feedback given in line with the company's goals and expectations are more likely to be internalized and acted on. This is more likely to produce sustainable results compared to that from formal appraisals unless the employee in question is impervious to such feedback and coaching.

One way to encourage collaboration is to lead by example. Detoxify asking for help or working together on a project or participating in team building activities by being exemplary and by handsomely rewarding those who do.

Learning and development initiatives help teams bond together. This is because people find it easy to interact with people that have things in common with them. Thus, the more intellectual and corporate common-ground you create among your team, the higher the chances of them collaborating naturally.

The more agency people have over their affairs, the more ownership they take. This is good in any venture. What is required here is to make sure that there is appropriate guidance and consistent training so that the decisions made are always in line with the company's goals.

I opted to acknowledge the employee in front of their colleagues by highlighting the accomplishments tied to their activities. Conversely, presenting a recognition letter/certificate along with a modest gift can serve as motivation for others.