Open University CPD Modules - More Information
There are currently 44 Business and Management modules available from the Open University.
6 key modules are detailed below. For a list of other modules and details of the discount offer, please visit the OU CPD Modules website.
Effective Leadership Skills
Developing your leadership capabilities can be challenging. There are so many different views about leadership: some theories are popular for a while, and then others seem to take their place. It is hard to know which to put into practice. This course helps you take a critical, but constructive approach to these different ideas and then to identify what is of most value to you in the different ideas about leadership. It will enable you to take a well-founded approach to developing your own practices and skills in leadership.
Mentoring At Work
More organisations are using mentoring to help staff learn and develop at work. This web-based course provides tools, structure, ideas, resources, activities, support and feedback on a work-based activity to improve mentoring effectiveness. It builds on and uses participants’ own competence as the key resource to facilitate learning and development in others - unearthing your own skill and understanding is a powerful tool to help others do the same. The course deepens your understanding of your workplace as a learning environment. You undertake activities that help you and your mentee/colleague mine that environment, and existing knowledge within it, in order to improve performance at work.
How To Use Coaching At Work
Coaching at work is unquestionably one of the most powerful staff development tools. It is work-based, practical and involves learning at work rather than away from the job. Coaching is carried on informally in almost every workplace. This course will enable participants to develop more effective coaching skills in their own work setting. Focussed on the role of the manager and/or specialist in coaching staff at all levels, it is suitable for those wanting to develop their own coaching skills and for those who want to encourage coaching skills in the wider workforce.
How Well Do You Communicate? Interpersonal Communication At Work
Whatever line of work you are in, regardless of your role and responsibilities or the product or service that you or your organisation provides, communicating with other people will form a major part of your work. As communication is so central to the world of work, it follows that where communication is poor or inadequate, the quality of that work – be it a product or service – will suffer as a result. On the other hand, ensuring ‘good’ and ‘effective’ communication is a fundamental component of providing high quality services and products. Good, effective communication at work therefore is not a luxury or an optional extra but essential for success. This course is for those seeking to improve skills in communicating with work colleagues, customers and service users and external stakeholders.
Becoming An Effective Project Manager
If you’re new to project management, this short web-based CPD course, developed by The Open University in partnership with CrossKnowledge, will help you lead and/or contribute to projects more effectively. Projects are how organisations - in private and public sectors - make things happen. They deliver the changes that improve services to customers and increase operational effectiveness. Staff of all types participate in projects. The course blends OU expertise from years of teaching the subject and CrossKnowledge e-learning modules in project management. It covers project roles and responsibilities, how to launch, control and close projects, project teams and project risks.
Getting It Right: Consulting and Communication Inside Organisations
This online continuing professional development course examines the way in which effective communication within organisations can offer business benefits. Communicating essential information to employees – and, perhaps more importantly, consulting them – makes business sense. Well-informed employees can be more productive employees and those people who work at lower levels in an organisation often know more than their managers about what would really make a difference to customers.