Work with me
Let’s start your team’s play practice
If you’re ready to harness the benefits of play for your team, PATO is ready to be your Player 2. We can help you assess your team, design and facilitate workshops, create a play practice, or run games for your team.
Foundational
SPACE for Play Report
This is a great starting point for building a play practice, either on your own or curated with PATO’s guidance.
Each team member answers a set of 62 questions anonymously. PATO analyzes the results and delivers a detailed, digital report, identifying gaps, where to focus, recommendations, and what to do next.
Format
Survey, PDF
Delivery
4-6 weeks
Team size
4 – 20
$650
For teams smaller than 4 or multiple teams, contact us
Process
Each team member answers questions independently and anonymously across all 5 SPACE dimensions. ~15 minutes to complete
I review your team’s responses against the SPACE framework, a score for each, and identify where you have the most to gain and where to focus first.
Delivered to your inbox, a report with your SPACE scores and explanation by dimension, recommendations, and next steps
Walk through the results together, ask anything, and build a plan. Great for deepening understanding.
Thank you so much for such an inspiring, engaging, and interactive workshop! The Miro board you created was amazing! It really demonstrated how thoughtful delivery can elevate impact and create meaningful audience engagement. I left feeling truly inspired. Thank you again for sharing your creativity, expertise, and passion for building community through engaging and playful experiences. It really made a lasting impression.
Martha Damian
Software engineer
Facilitation
Workshops
Every PATO workshop is built around one idea: play with a purpose.
If you’re processing a big project delivery, onboarding new folks, or just need a session for a specific need, our workshops are available in-person and remotely.
Don’t see what you need? Custom workshops are available for team retreats, product launches, reorgs, and more.
Available workshops
Amp up engagement and feedback by turning your next retro into an investigation!
This murder mystery style retrospective is geared for teams who just pulled off something big, like a conference, product launch, or major project. This playful debrief will help your team uncover exactly how it happened so you can do it again even better.
In this workshop, your team members become detectives who create a murder board using string to connect pieces of evidence to close the case of How did we do it?
Format
In person or remote
Duration
90 – 120m
Group size
6 – 20 people
First, we’ll talk about your team, event, and goals for customization.
$95/per person
Coming soon! Past, present, and future! A guided workshop for teams who want new ways to create conversation and connection around events.
Sometimes the best insights come from the most unexpected places. The Tarot Retro uses tarot cards as prompts to reflect on a recent sprint, project, or period. Each card drawn becomes a lens for examining thoughts around the beginning, middle, and end of a process.
This one’s still in the works but if you want to help shape the experience, you’ll get a special rate.
Format
In person or remote
Duration
60m
Group size
3 – 20 people
I design and facilitate custom workshops for retros, team retreats, offsites, product launches, new team formation or onboarding, conferences, and more. Every workshop is grounded in the SPACE for Play framework and built around what your team’s actionable goals.
Have something else in mind? If your team has a moment worth designing around, let’s talk.
Format
In-person or remote
Duration
Varies
Group size
Varies
There are so few opportunities for adults to really play. These games helped me get to know people, get more comfortable with people. Look at my current job, I JUST feel like I’m getting to know my team months in. It would have been great to have a few of these easy, fun sessions so we could get familiar with each other in a low stakes environment instead of a high pressure one 🥲
Sarah Sherman
UX designer
1:1 Support
Play Practice Blueprint
PATO curates the best fit games and implementation, while you focus on your projects.
Over 8 weeks, I learn what your team needs, build a custom plan around it, and hand you everything you need to run it confidently without me. You get a play practice that starts small and builds over 1 to 3 months, at a pace that works for your team, in a way that you can start and sustain on your own!
Format
In person or remote
Duration
8 weeks
Team size
Any
Starting at $3500
Includes:
Process
The team takes the SPACE assessment and gets access to an async workshop board to introduce the framework, reflect, and do a pre-mortem together
We analyze the assessment, create a report, and start working on the blueprint, including materials like templates, game guides, and exercises. Each week, we meet with the lead or manager to walk through findings and options, make sure everything fits, and answer questions. No surprises here. When the blueprint is ready, it lands in the workshop board so your team can explore it together, react, and give feedback for adjustments.
You start your play practice! You’ll know exactly where to begin with a first session designed specifically for you. I check in weekly, with the lead or manager, to answer questions, troubleshoot, and adjust based on what’s happening
Games for growth
Just want to play?
Want to grow your team’s skills through gaming? PATO facilitates games matched to hone the exact skills you want to nurture in your team.
I can also teach you how to run games on your own. Don’t see what you’re looking for? I design custom sessions too.
Perfect for new teams, recently remote teams, or onboarding. These games create low stakes moments for people to share and learn about each other.
Examples include improv, True of Me and You, Too, Jackbox
For teams who want to sharpen how they communicate, make decisions, and solve problems.
Examples include Codenames, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, and A Quiet Year
Taking on other perspectives, vulnerability, staying calm under pressure. These games create space to stretch those muscles in a fun way.
Examples include Honey Heist, Dread, For the Queen
Crossed the finish line on something hard? Let’s mark it with a session that’s just for fun. Or just make new memories with your team. Sometimes that’s exactly what the moment calls for.
Examples include Gartic Phone, Jackbox, Codenames
Want to practice real world skills in a way that doesn’t feel like training? Games in this category build things like public speaking, confidence, storytelling, thinking on your feet, and pitching ideas.
Examples include Say and Slay (a public speaking game by PATO), Jackbox, Improv
Looking for something else? Suggest a skill, I’ll find the game.
FAQs
General Questions
Nope! Any time you book a call, it’s free and there’s no obligation. It’s just our initial conversation; getting to know each other, figuring out if this is the right fit, and learning about your team. A proposal or statement of work only comes if you want one after we chat.
PATO was built with tech and product teams in mind, but the SPACE framework works anywhere people work together. If you’re not sure if your team is a fit, just ask!
I work with all three. Remote sessions use Miro and are designed specifically for distributed teams. I can travel to location in most places in Mi or help you find a place in the case of in-person events and retreats. Travel outside of Mi is available as long as travel is covered. Hybrid requires a little more design thinking but I do work with hybrid teams.
Yes! We love to design and facilitate workshops specific to your team or project needs. These can be 1-2 hours, half days, or full day workshops. Some themes we’ve designed for in the past include retros, budgets, feature prioritization, design sprints, retros, and new program launches. I’d also be thrilled to design a retreat style week for your team. Contact me or book a call to get started.
Due to the custom nature of the services we offer, we don’t give refunds. That said, if you’re unhappy, we’re unhappy and we’ll do what we can to make things better, including a refund in certain circumstances. We’re reasonable! Promise.
Space for play report
The assessment is made up of 62 questions, split by sections based on the SPACE dimensions (safety, purpose, autonomy, care, enablement) and one section on willingness to play, which helps us determine the best recommendations and next steps for your team.
You’ll have immediate access to the survey after purchase, along with instructions on how to distribute it.
You’ll have 14 days to collect responses. A reminder will be sent after a week. If response rates are lower than 50%, we’ll will reach out before closing the survey. Please allow between 2-4 weeks from survey close for analysis and report delivery. Our reports are analyzed and created manually, by hand (and brain).
Because it’s difficult to retain anonymity with 3 or less people, we offer a workshop version of the assessment that teaches the principles of SPACE while providing a safe and nurturing environment for the team to share reflections about each dimension. At the end, we co-create next steps. This workshop is also available for teams of any size. Contact us to get started.
Yes, if you would like to measure your team’s improvement using the report, we offer a 50% discount on retakes. We recommend retaking the assessment after 3 months of consistent play practice.
Can do! We offer discounts for multiteam reports. Contact us for pricing and setup.
Murder mystery retro
The murder mystery retro is designed to collect honest feedback and reflections from a team without calling attention to individuals. It focuses on collecting “evidence” related to features, locations, or things. This retro is less about critiquing each other and more about discovering the connections between what each person contributed.
First, we’ll talk through the outcomes of the murder mystery retro and make sure we’re aligned on goals. Then, we learn more about what the team has been working on so that the workshop can be customized as needed.
Absolutely. For remote and hybrid teams, teams will create their murder mystery boards online using Miro, a digital collaboration tool. We’ll have breakout rooms to facilitate certain parts of the agenda. Hybrid teams typically need more than 90m to complete this workshop and we recommend having at least two conference rooms booked for the session because this retro requires different stations.
Play practice blueprint
The first two weeks are about getting to know your team. Everyone takes the SPACE for Play assessment and gets access to a private Miro board for async activities to help introduce the framework and gather reflections.
From there I spend three weeks analyzing the results, writing your report, and building a custom blueprint. I meet with you weekly during this phase so nothing is a surprise. The phase wraps with updates to the async workshop board to so your team can walkthrough the blueprint and leave feedback. You’ll have a chance to see the blueprint before the team. Then you and your team run the play practice for the final three weeks while I check in with you weekly to troubleshoot and adjust.
By the end, you get a report, a blueprint for your play practice, which includes materials like custom games and facilitator instructions, and a 3 month integration plan.
Your team’s SPACE for Play report, a custom blueprint with materials like templates, game guides, and exercises for your specific team, 3 weeks of support before the end of the program, a 1 to 3 month ramp-up plan, and a discount on a retake assessment so you can measure again after consistent play. We recommend retaking in 3 months.
Your team takes the SPACE for Play assessment, which takes about 15 minutes. The workshop board activities are async so everyone does them on their own time. The play practice goal is mostly about embedding play into time you’re already spending together. The size of your play practice depends on the type of commitment that would work best for the team, based on the assessment results, activities, and a discussion. Your team will still have plenty of time to stay focused on work.
Nope! You’ll have facilitator guides to refer to, written for all levels, as well as access to me for questions and adjustments. Additionally, part of the 2nd phase is making sure you feel confident before the things get started.
Everything we do in this program is based on your team’s specific needs. Unlike a team building event, where folks have a good time, and then things go back to the status quo in a couple of weeks, this program ends in a practice. You and your team can keep this play practice going and start seeing early signals as soon as 3 weeks. This program is designed for measurable improvements in connection, energy, and isolation in 3 months.
The SPACE for Play report, which is included, helps us anonymously determine your team’s openness to play. From there, we can design around the team’s needs. Book a call and we can figure out together if this is the right move.
Team size is one factor. Larger teams mean more to analyze, more to build, and more complexity. Because the program is new, it’s priced well below what comparable culture consulting programs typically cost for teams of 4-5. Eventually, price goes up so if you’re on the fence, now’s a good time to talk!
