In this episode of Hives + Vibes + Tribes, I am speaking with Alison Coward.

Alison Coward is the founder of Bracket, a consultancy that helps ambitious, forward-thinking teams to build high-performing, collaborative cultures. She is a strategist, workshop facilitator, coach, trainer, keynote speaker and author of “A Pocket Guide to Effective Workshops”.

Alison works across corporates, start-ups, agencies and public institutions and her client list includes Google, D&AD, Barclaycard, Wellcome and Channel 4. With over 15 years’ experience of working in, leading and facilitating creative teams, Alison is passionate about finding the balance between creativity, productivity and collaboration so that teams can thrive and do their best work together.

Alison and I had a wonderful conversation about the facilitation work she does with teams and It was great to hear her perspective on what makes an effective facilitator and how the good one's usually make it look easy. Her idea that design thinking principles, based upon human centeredness and empathy, are not just for creative producers is a perspective I have always shared. I loved hearing the path that brought Alison to found Bracket and especially admire the work she's doing.