We live in a changing world. Being able to anticipate, make sense of, and manage change is vital to our wellbeing in personal and working lives. Whether or not you see yourself as a manager, the ability to manage change is crucial because we all need to manage our lives to 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 plan a change project associated with your workplace. You’ll also develop project working skills – highly valued by employers.
What you will study
In the first block of study, you will be introduced to techniques for probing and understanding the ‘big picture’ of how change is likely to impact your workplace and your options for responding to the need for change.
In the 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 in 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 confidence
develop your ability to learn from your work and to apply learning in your workplace.
Entry requirements
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. Career development and employability (T122) would be ideal preparation.
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 must obtain agreement that you can use your workplace as a context for your studies before registering for this module.
Preparatory work
You'll need to gain your employer’s permission to use your workplace as a context for your learning. We won't ask you to include any information that is confidential to your employer or to reveal the names of workplace colleagues in any assessment material you submit.
You may also find it useful to make initial enquiries in your workplace to identify potential project ideas, but we'll guide you through this process during the early stages 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 forums.
Online tutorials run throughout the module. While they’re not compulsory, we strongly encourage you to participate. Where possible, we’ll make recordings available.
Assessment
Course work includes:
3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs)
End-of-module assessment
What's included
You’ll have access to a module website, which includes:
a week-by-week study planner
course-specific module materials
audio and video content
assessment details and submission section
online tutorial access
access to student forums.
We also provide physical:
set book.
Computing requirements
Primary device – A desktop or laptop computer with at least 8 GB of RAM and a quad-core processor (2.4 GHz minimum speed). It’s possible to access some materials on a mobile phone, tablet or Chromebook; however, they will not be suitable as your primary device.
Peripheral device – Headphones/earphones with a built-in microphone for online tutorials.
Operating systems – Windows 11 or the latest supported macOS.
Internet access – Broadband or mobile connection.
Browser – Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge are recommended; Mozilla Firefox and Safari may be suitable.
Our OU Study app operates on supported versions of Android and iOS.
Software – Any additional software will be provided or is generally available for free.
If you have a disability
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone, and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying T227 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our Disability support website.
Future availability
Change, strategy and projects at work (T227) starts once a year in October.
It will next start in October 2027.
We expect it to start for the last time in October 2027.