explore space
Work can be a SPACE for play
Play is the missing infrastructure for high performing, connected, and engaged teams. The research on play has been clear for decades – it’s good for teams AND for business!
But knowing that hasn’t helped more teams harness the power of play. It’s really simple though…Just play! Play consistently, play all the time. Easier said than done, right? I built the SPACE for Play framework to make it possible.
74%
improvement in sense of team connection
7+
soft skills improved per person on average
100%
would like to bring play methods to their own teams
Results from a 5 month study with 14 participants
five dimensions
SPACE for Play
After 15 years of watching teams at work, both great and struggling ones, I noticed the difference was rarely skill or talent but teams who had safety and purpose, and opportunities for autonomy, care, and growth. Play is how you build all five. SPACE for Play is a layered system where each dimension plays an important role.
Layer 1 is about creating safety and autonomy. These two are foundational so we start here.
Layer 2 is about developing the team.
At the center are people who feel connected. That’s what all 5 dimensions are working towards. Simple, but rare.
Safety
Foundation | Layer 1
Safety is part of a team’s foundation. Without it, it’s difficult for people to do any of the other parts of SPACE. Safe teams are more honest about their ideas, feelings, and actions. They don’t expect retribution for speaking their minds or being themselves, but they do take accountability when needed in order to maintain that safety.
When it’s missing: teams withdraw and self-censor
What it looks like in practice
Counting together
Start a stand-up with an improv exercise called “Counting Together,” where the team counts to 10 together with their eyes closed. This exercise brings teams to the present moment and shows that struggling is okay. Learn more
The murder mystery retro
The way this retro is built, the cards ask the questions, not your teammates, so it’s easier to name what really happened. The cards do the work of providing a focus so the spotlight isn’t on each person. Run this retro
Purpose
Development | Layer 2
No one likes to just go through the motions. Purpose is about being intentional when the team gets together and asking Is this the right way to pursue X? Ensuring that there are clear goals and purpose for activities like icebreakers, brainstorming, or even gaming.
When it’s missing: activities feel pointless or random
What is looks like in practice
Improv before a brainstorm
Running a quick improv exercise before a creative session has a specific job: to lower inhibition, increase openness, and get people out of their heads.
Letters from the future
This is a silly workshop exercise where the team writes letters to themselves from the future, maybe about how well a product launch went. It serves to identify project risks in a low stakes, playful way.
Autonomy
Foundation | Layer 1
Like safety, autonomy is also a foundational dimension. If your team can’t feel like they have a choice in participation or how they show up, it affects their level of safety.
When it’s missing: disengagement happens and things become performative when folks feel forced to comply
What it looks like in practice
Multiple ways to participate
In a Jackbox game, some people will participate out loud and others quietly from the audience. Both are considered full participation. Building choice into how people engage is what makes play feel safe instead of coercive.
Talk out loud or through the chat
Folks on the team can participate in an activity by speaking out loud or through the chat. In person, maybe this looks like writing on the board or on a sheet of paper to share later.
Care
Development | Layer 2
How can I tell how my teammates are feeling? Through games we learn about the things that make our coworkers the main characters in their own lives. Strong relationships help us connect which in turn, makes work better.
When it’s missing: teammates feel like strangers
What it looks like in practice
Art Scale Check In
A quick check in at the beginning of a meeting where team members pick a piece of art that represents how they’re feeling. Takes five minutes and lets teammates be vulnerable by offering choice in how much they share. Try it
The 8book activity
A workshop for Miro where the team can decorate their office space, share values, energy schedule, and feedback style to help the team see each other as people instead of job titles. Available soon!
Enablement
Development | Layer 2
Games and playful methods enable a team to grow soft skills individually, like communication, resilience, public speaking. It also provides opportunities for the team to learn how to work together by leveling up experience with teamwork, conflict resolution, and other team skills and providing experiences they can pull from when things come up during work.
When it’s missing: teams feel stuck and stagnant
What it looks like in practice
Game: Keep talking and nobody explodes
Communication under pressure. One person sees the bomb, everyone else has the bomb defusing manual. Teams practice patience, being calm, or having difficult feelings together and working through them in real time.
A role-playing one shot
A single session role-playing adventure (like Dungeons & Dragons but there are many options!) where everyone has a character and a role. Teams learn how each person thinks under pressure, how to communicate when things don’t go as planned, and how to have each other’s backs, all through collaborative storytelling. I can run these for your team or teach you how!
Moving the meter
Each dimension moves the needle on burnout, isolation, and disengagement on its own, but when all five are present, teams thrive and so does the work.
where it comes from
Duck around and find out
The SPACE for Play framework grew out of 15 years of doing UX in tech, facilitating, and designing serious games + the one question I couldn’t stop asking: what makes the best teams?
In 2025, I ran a 5 month experiment to find out. I created a small online community I called The Party, a wink and a nod to adventuring in Dungeons and Dragons, and used it as a living lab for the framework. For five months, I designed and facilitated a play practice for a group of software engineers, designers, product managers, and other folks and tracked everything that happened.
By being playful and gaming with others, I learned how intentional, structured play can build the dimensions of SPACE and what that does to a team.
74%
improvement in sense of team connection
7+
soft skills improved per person on average
100%
would like to bring play methods to their own teams
78%
reported more energy at work
70%
felt less isolated during the workday
67%
improved empathy + active listening
from the community
How it feels to play
The stats show it works, but the testimonials give more of the why and what it feels like to be on a team that plays together.
“The gulf between my work and any sense of community is one of the reasons I left tech. I think Lissy is so cool for imagining a different way for folks to connect and reconsider how they relate to one another in an environment that most folks think has no room for people to actually be people.”
Michael B
Project manager
“I really enjoyed the safe place built for communication and community. I liked having a place where others understood the struggles of working environments and allowed me to express them in ways that wouldn’t affect my job.”
Heather J
Admin
“It showed me how important having fun is and how playing with people can build the intangible elements of better communication, skills, and relationships.”
Brad S
Product manager
“I’m used to just simple run of the mill ‘conversation starter’ style games with coworkers, but this provided more experiences that gave a refreshing forum with others.”
Jeff M
Sr. Software Engineer
“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 S
UX designer
“The party was different in the best way. I could show up with lunchtime or after‑work, tired energy, but leave the session in a completely different mood. Every session felt like a mini reset. I truly cherished each moment in The Party’s digital space, and it quickly became a highlight of my week. I’m excited to see what’s next as this concept continues to evolve.”
Njeri C
Software engineer
Decades in the making
You’d be surprised how long ago adults have been playing at work. The idea that play is good for teams has been around for decades. What PATO did was build a practical system to put it to work.
Below are just some of the many empirical pieces of evidence pointing to the benefits of play at work. Despite the clear connection between play, performance, and engagement, play at work is still only for a few elite teams.
dive deeper
Map your SPACE
The SPACE Report gives you a full picture of where your team is across all five dimensions and what to do next.
In practice
How to put play to work
You don’t need a perfect team or a budget to make a play practice. Here’s how you can start.
1
Where’s your team at?
Take this 5 question snapshot to see which dimensions across the SPACE for Play framework your team should focus on first. At the end, you’ll receive ideas for what to try next.
Free – no email needed
2
Try something small
Pick one game, one check in, or warm up to try with your team this week. Not sure where to start? Download the Art Scale check in.
Also free! And funny.
3
Keep it going
Play is most powerful when it happens consistently. Sign up for the newsletter for that little kick in the pants, tips, games, and stories on how to create a play practice.
$free.99
FAQs
Getting to SPACE
Now that you know more about the framework, you might be nodding along and asking “Okay, how can I do this for my team?”
Good question! I’ve got a couple more questions for you here, too.
We offer a 5 question snapshot for free to help you reflect on where to focus first, with some tips.
Get the SPACE Report for a better picture. For the report, every team member answers the same questions anonymously and you get a full profile across all five dimensions with specific guidance on where to start and what to do next.
After about 6 to 8 weeks of putting in the play (see what I did there…), you should start to notice initial improvements in your team’s focus areas and overall energy, connection, and creativity. 90 days in is when you’ll start noticing bigger changes in the team.
Because this is about creating an ongoing practice, the teams who commit to a rhythm that works for them are the ones who get the most out of it. I can help you find that rhythm.
Your play practice fits into your team any way that makes sense for them, but a good one fits in with how your team works. Think: first 15m of a long sprint planning, adding a little improv to stand up, switching out the usual retro for one with more playful mechanics.
It doesn’t have to be about adding to the calendar but rather about asking how might we adjust what we’re already doing?
Yes, we want as many teams to play as possible. Our mission at PATO is to change the way we approach work by making play an every day thing. We provide a free snapshot, weekly newsletter, and Miro templates designed to help teams experiment with and start a play practice.
Working with me saves time, speeds things up, and provides expert guidance, but it’s not the only way to get a play practice going.
The SPACE for Play report gives you a baseline. You can retake the report assessment after 3 months to compare. You can also measure by tuning in to your team: Are folks more willing to share ideas? Are they asking each other for help? Is there a shift in team energy?
Yes, the SPACE for Play framework was built with different styles, abilities, and neurodivergencies in mind.
Safety and autonomy, the two foundational dimensions, focus on creating a team culture where people feel safe enough to be themselves, share their perspectives and backgrounds, and participate in the ways that feel right for them.
