The Open University (OU) is the largest academic institution in the UK and a world leader in flexible distance learning. The UK’s latest Research Excellence Framework exercise (REF 2014) places The Open University in the top third of UK higher education institutions by ‘research power’ ranking. 72% of OU research submitted was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent.

1. Course: Management and Leadership: Growing as a Manager

Explore the foundations of successful management with this free online course from The Open University and CMI.

Available Now

Duration 4 weeks - 3 hours per week - FREE online course

Why join the course?

This free online course will provide an introduction to the foundation skills and knowledge that you need when becoming a manager.The course is designed for new or aspiring managers, who wish to supplement their experience with formal training and begin thinking about their continuing professional development.Understand the foundations of management and leadership over four weeks, the course will enable you to:

• define the concepts of management and leadership;
• evaluate different management and learning styles;
• recognize the need for and importance of data as evidence in good decision making;
• define the term “stakeholders” and explain why they’re important;
• and begin the on-going process of personal development planning.

What topics will you cover?

• Week 1 - What is Management?
  • What is management?
  • Personal development planning
  • Influencing and communicating
• Week 2 - Management Styles
  • An introduction to management styles
  • Classic management style theories
  • The importance of management styles – trust in the workplace
• Week 3 - Decision Making and Data
  • An introduction to decision making
  • A possible approach to decision making
  • The importance of data and information
  • Decision information
• Week 4 - Stakeholders
  • An introduction to stakeholder
  • Categorising stakeholders
  • Understanding stakeholders and meeting their needs

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Describe the concepts of management and leadership;
• Understand and evaluate different management and learning styles;
• Identify the need for and the importance of data as evidence in good decision making;
• Identify and define the term 'stakeholders' and gain an understanding of why they are important;
• Begin and develop the on-going process of personal development planning.

Who is the course for?

The course is designed for new or aspiring managers or experienced managers with few or no formal qualifications. It will enable you to demonstrate your continuous professional development and go on to achieve a CMI Level 5 Award.

Please go to the course link for further detailed information and enrollment: Management and Leadership: Growing as a Manager.

2. Course: Management and Leadership: Leading a Team

Develop a business plan and build a team with one of two courses in the Management and Leadership program.

Starts on 13 November 2017

Duration 4 weeks - 3 hours per week - FREE online course

Why join the course?

This course is all about what’s core to leading and managing in organisations. Understanding who is important to an organization – and that’s everybody who has a stake in it in some way – is a really good starting point. Building relationships with interested groups and people are time well spent. So too is time spent on planning. As someone once said ‘To fail to plan is to plan to fail’. If there’s no plan, how do organizations get people on board? If there’s no plan, what’s the difference between success and failure? How do you know when things are going off track? Or going well?

Plans are one thing. The people who can make the plans a reality are those with the right knowledge, skills, and experience. Without the right person, performing as well as they can in the right job, plans don’t get off the ground. So building, supporting, growing and developing a team is much of what leading and managing is all about. And sometimes that’s about tackling poor performance, which can be uncomfortable.

Develop a business plan and build an effective team

This four-week course will guide you through some key aspects of leadership and management. You will:

• Find out about stakeholders – the people and groups who have an interest in an organization – and how to analyze them, communicate with them and build effective relationships with them;
• Examine what is involved in making plans and implementing them at different levels in organizations;
• Explore what makes for best practice in recruiting and selecting the right people for a team;
• Look at how good induction can help to settle a new employee in so that they can perform well and enjoy their new role;
• Find out how understanding what motivates people at work and managing performance can support individuals, teams, and organizations as a whole.

At the end of the course, you will have gained an insight into leadership and management and how you can develop the skills and knowledge to make you more effective in leading and managing in your organization.

What topics will you cover?

• Week 1 - It’s all about your stakeholders
  • Review of stakeholders’ needs
  • Stakeholders and change
  • Influencing and communicating
• Week 2 - Planning your business case for change
  • What makes an effective business plan?
  • Making your case for change
  • Getting support for your change
• Week 3 - Building your team
  • Preparing for recruitment
  • The process of selection
  • Shortlisting and interviewing
• Week 4 - Managing your team
  • Induction and socialization
  • Managing individual performance and team welfare
  • Engaging and motivating your team

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

• Develop a business plan which meets stakeholder needs, including resources required;
• Explain what is essential in producing a good business plan;
• Identify what is involved in recruiting and building an effective team including team welfare;
• Discuss approaches to managing poor performance and supporting performance improvement;
• Develop and draw up an action plan to support their own personal development.

Who is the course for?

The course is designed for new or aspiring managers or experienced managers with few or no formal qualifications. It will enable you to demonstrate your continuous professional development and go on to achieve a CMI Level 5 Award.

Please go to the course link for further detailed information and enrollment: Management and Leadership: Leading a Team.