Open University
The Open University (OU) provides continuing professional development
(CPD) to thousands of professionals by offering flexible, accessible and value-for-
Money online courses in business and management.
IFC has negotiated with the Open University for members to receive 10% off the flexible online Continuing Professional Development/Education course fees.
The OU CPD courses can give new skills, knowledge and ideas, which can be applied in the workplace. Most take around 30 hours split into bite-sized 1-2 hour learning chunks to complete and can be studied at a time and pace to suit each individual without the need to take days off work. The discounted course fee is £445 (pound sterling) (usually £495 – pound sterling) for members.
Each course draws on the breadth of the Open University's expertise in the work-based professional development and offers:
Relevance to your work
Each course is designed to help you respond to the actual challenges you face in your day-to-day work.
Immediate applicability
The strong link between a course learning and your work practice means that you can immediately use newly acquired skills and knowledge.
Online flexibility and convenience
The courses are 'chunked' into convenient 1-2 hour elements to enable you to spread your skills development, to keep pace with your work patterns and take in total around 20-30 hours, starting and finishing when it suits you (within a course presentation patterns). You can learn online, at work or wherever it is convenient.
Guidance and feedback
An expert learning adviser will provide you with continuing guidance and feedback.
Action orientation
By the end of a course you will have built your own Personal Development or Action Plan.
An Award of Certificate
Each course can enhance your CV with an OU Certificate of successful completion.
For a complete lists of all the courses visit http://www8.open.ac.uk/employers/added-value-services/professional-body-partnerships/special-arrangement
Also to get a taste of OU learning look at some Free CPD/E Resources through OpenLearn
OpenLearn and iTunesU are opportunities for informal study in your own time.
Access free educational materials in areas familiar or new to you, without the pressure of keeping to a timetable – useful chunks of learning, ideal for CPD.
Useful information:
www.open2.net is the online learning portal from The Open University and the BBC
www.open.ac.uk/itunes/ where you can download free open education resources
www.openlearn.open.ac.uk access free CPD courses through the Openlearn site.
Some of the courses which may be of specific interest to members are:
Influencing strategic decisions for finance professionals
Businesses need clear strategies in order to survive and succeed. As a finance professional, whatever the size of the organisation you work for, you’ll need to be able to think strategically and contribute to strategic decisions. This online course will provide you with tools, frameworks and ideas to help you influence strategic thinking. The course has been developed in conjunction with ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and will be of benefit to: senior finance professionals; high potential junior finance professionals; entrepreneurs; directors of small medium enterprises; other professionals involved in developing an organisation’s strategic objectives and goals.
Effective decision making skills
As managers we make decisions every day. Many of these are simple and routine, but take up a great deal of our time. Others are more complex, involve taking strategic actions - launching a new product into a new market, investing funds, opening a new business unit. This sort of decisions can carry risks - especially in a climate that is experiencing turbulent changes and great unpredictability. On this course the students explore how they can reduce the time spent on routine decision making, and how to focus this time on considering more challenging strategic decisions to be faced.
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 being separate from the job. Coaching is carried out informally in almost every workplace. This course will enable participants to develop more effective coaching skills in their own work setting. Focused on the role of a manager and/or a 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 a product or a 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 producing that product or offering that 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.
Managing conflict
Conflicts are inevitable - differences, disagreements, disputes or discord between colleagues, with customers or with suppliers happen every day. If badly handled or left unmanaged, they can be costly - reducing organisational performance, decreasing motivation, tying up people's time, or increasing absenteeism. This course will help you recognise the causes and sources of conflict and give you the skills to help you deal with the situation. Whether you are in the front line with customers, coping with suppliers, human resources or colleagues, this course will develop your knowledge and skills base so that you can resolve the conflict more effectively.
Successful team working
Successful organisations rely on successful teams. That is to say, successful organisations rely on collections of individual staff members who can recognise the difference between being a team members and merely being a member of a group, and those who can work together successfully. Most staff members are, in fact, members of several different teams, working with different people, on different things, at different times and under different constraints. In one team they might be the leader, in another, a team member. This course is aimed at developing their skills and abilities to become effective and successful team players.
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