Why Your Team Needs a DOSE of Play (Literally)

The DOSE model breaks down four key brain chemicals that influence how we feel, connect, and perform. Each one plays a unique role in motivation and wellbeing, and together they form the chemistry of high-performing, emotionally intelligent teams.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a central role in the brain’s reward and motivation systems. It is released in response to rewarding experiences, goal achievement, and anticipation of positive outcomes. This chemical activity supports focus, learning, and persistence by reinforcing behaviors that lead to success.

You know that lift you feel when a new idea gains traction or a project finally starts moving forward? That’s dopamine. It’s the brain’s way of saying, keep going… this matters.

Research cited by the National Institute for Play notes that play can engage dopamine pathways associated with pleasure and motivation. Studies in both animals and humans show that playful and exploratory behaviors activate neural circuits linked to curiosity, novelty, and reward processing. This helps explain why gamified experiences, problem-solving challenges, and visible progress often feel satisfying; they tap into the same mechanisms that drive learning and engagement.

In workplace and play-based settings, leaders can encourage healthy dopamine responses by recognising achievements, setting clear milestones, and fostering environments where progress and feedback are visible.

Oxytocin is a neurochemical often referred to as the trust hormone for its role in strengthening relationships and fostering empathy. It is released during moments of connection, cooperation, and shared positive emotion, helping people feel safe, valued, and understood.

Play and collaboration both stimulate the social systems that involve oxytocin, supporting trust and cohesion within groups. When teams engage in playful or purpose-driven activities, these same biological pathways reinforce feelings of belonging and group unity.

You can feel it when a teammate stays late to help hit a deadline, or when shared laughter turns a long day into a good one. That moment of trust and ease isn’t random, it’s oxytocin building safety between people.

In the workplace, creating space for shared laughter, acts of kindness, and collective achievement nurtures these effects over time. Charity team-building programs are a powerful example; they combine purpose with human connection, engaging the chemistry that underpins genuine collaboration and social wellbeing.

Serotonin plays a vital role in stabilising mood and supporting emotional wellbeing. It helps people feel calm, balanced, and connected to those around them. When serotonin levels are steady, teams are more likely to approach challenges with optimism and confidence.

Play naturally supports these effects by reducing stress and creating positive social experiences. Research referenced by the National Institute for Play shows that healthy serotonin function contributes to cooperation and emotional regulation; two qualities that make shared play feel safe and enjoyable.

In the workplace, simple moments of appreciation and reflection can encourage the same chemistry. Team shout-outs, gratitude walls, or celebrating milestones together reinforce a sense of belonging, strengthening both morale and resilience across the group.

Endorphins are the body’s natural stress relievers. They reduce pain, elevate mood, and create that sense of lightness people describe after laughing or moving. You’ll see it after a team challenge or even a quick round of laughter between meetings. people relax, breathe easier, and refocus. That’s endorphins clearing stress and bringing the energy back up.

Physical play, laughter, and shared moments of fun all trigger an endorphin rush. Studies in neuroscience and play research show that active play not only boosts energy but also improves resilience, helping people recover from stress and stay positive under pressure.

At work, this might look like introducing energisers into meetings, planning active team days, or allowing humour to break up routine. These small, joyful moments have measurable effects on mood and performance.

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What makes play truly exceptional is its ability to engage multiple neurochemical systems, not just one. In the DOSE framework, play combines curiosity (dopamine), connection (oxytocin), recognition (serotonin), and joy (endorphins) into a richer, more integrated experience than most workplace rituals.

Sure, a bonus might give a quick dopamine lift. A team lunch can spark social connection. A thank-you email might nudge someone’s mood. But when teams play together, the effects overlap: fun, shared challenge, cooperation, and recognition combine in a single moment of energy and cohesion. That’s why teams that play together often outperform those that don’t.

From a mental-wellness lens, play offers a kind of neurological reset. It helps dial down stress responses and shift the brain away from survival mode toward curiosity and creativity. In that state, people tend to think more openly, listen more deeply, and relate more authentically.

For leaders, play isn’t downtime. It’s a high-leverage cultural strategy grounded in what we know about how the brain responds to novelty, reward, and social safety. Giving your team permission to play isn’t losing productivity; it’s optimizing the brain’s chemistry for trust, innovation, and resilience. The ripple effects may show up in better communication, stronger resilience, and more creative collaboration.

When play becomes part of your workplace rhythm, it fuels a virtuous cycle: people feel more connected, perform better, and enjoy work more. The energy doesn’t disappear when the activity ends, it seeps into how people show up, how they solve problems, and how they build each other up.

Once leaders understand this, the question is no longer why play? The real question becomes why wouldn’t we?

The beauty of play is that it doesn’t demand more time, more meetings, or more budget. It simply asks leaders to create the right conditions for chemistry to flow. When teams play, the brain does the work for you, activating the same systems that release dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. No policy, incentive, or speech can replicate that effect.

Leaders often spend years chasing engagement through systems and structures, yet the most powerful lever has been there all along. Play is the simplest way to create motivation, connection, and trust at once. It is the universal language of energy and belonging; a shared experience that cuts through hierarchy and reminds people that work can feel good.

When leaders introduce play into their culture, even in small, deliberate ways, they start to see a shift that science can explain but only people can feel. Energy rises in the room. Conversations open up. Teams take more risks, offer more ideas, and recover faster when things go wrong. The change is subtle at first, then unmistakable. Play unlocks performance not through pressure, but through possibility.

This is where leadership becomes deeply human. The moments that build the strongest teams are rarely scripted or strategic. They happen in laughter between meetings, in spontaneous ideas that come from a playful spark, or in shared experiences that remind people they are part of something bigger.

Play gives leaders the chance to lead differently; to model confidence without control and to invite curiosity over caution. It is not about being the loudest in the room or the funniest on the floor. It is about giving permission for people to show up as themselves and to connect in ways that matter.