We live in a changing world. Being able to anticipate, make sense of, and manage change is vital to our wellbeing in our personal and working lives. Whether or not you see yourself as a manager in the usual sense, the ability to manage change is crucial because we all need to manage our lives to ensure we benefit from change rather than be disadvantaged by it. This module improves your understanding of the origins, nature and consequences of change and helps you to plan a change project associated with your workplace. You’ll also develop your project working skills – highly valued by employers.
What you will study
In the first block of study you will be introduced to techniques to probe and understand the ‘big picture’ of how change is likely to impact on your own workplace and options for responding to the need for change.
In following blocks you will identify and develop an idea for a practical change project centred on your work or workplace that supports your organisation’s priorities, which you identified in Block 1. You will develop your project plan, learning about project working methods as you do so. You will also learn how to prepare and present the business case for your project idea. You are not expected to implement your project plan in this module, though your employer could decide to take your project forward independent of your study on this module.
By studying this module you will:
- develop key change and project working skills and competences such as planning and organising, problem solving, showing initiative, adaptability, and flexibility
- improve your insight, knowledge and understanding of your workplace
- build your personal confidence
- develop your ability to learn from your work and to apply learning in your workplace.
Vocational relevance
The module has strong vocational relevance because it will help you to:
- gain an understanding of how different factors can drive and enable change in the workplace
- develop your knowledge, understanding and competence in project working and related employability skills
- evaluate, develop and review your personal and professional skills as an independent learner
- develop a workplace project proposal that could benefit both you and your employer.
Entry
This is an OU level 2 module and you need to have a good knowledge of the subject area, obtained either through OU level 1 study, or by doing equivalent work at another university. The work-based OU level 1 module Career development and employability (T122) would be ideal preparation.
In order to complete this module successfully you should:
- be in full- or part-time employment or be engaged in voluntary sector work activity throughout your study
- have permission to carry out work-based learning tasks relating to your work setting
- confirm that the work you submit is based on your own practice in that setting.
You are responsible for obtaining agreement that you can use your workplace as a context for your studies prior to registering for this module.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the module, please speak to an adviser.
Preparatory work
You will need to gain your employer’s permission to use your workplace as a context for your learning on this module. You will not be asked to include any information that is confidential to your employer or to reveal the names of workplace colleagues in any assessment material you submit on this module.
You may also find it useful to make initial enquiries in your workplace to identify potential project ideas, but you will be guided closely through this process during the early stages of your study of Block 2.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You’ll get help and support from an assigned tutor throughout your module.
They’ll help by:
- marking your assignments and offering detailed feedback to help you improve
- providing individual guidance, whether that’s for general study skills or specific module content
- guiding you to additional learning resources
- facilitating online discussions between your fellow students in the dedicated module and tutor group forums.
Online tutorials run throughout the module. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate.
Assessment
The assessment details for this module can be found in the facts box.
Future availability
Change, strategy and projects at work (T227) starts once a year in October.
This page describes the module that will start in October 2026.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2027.