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Introduction to business and workplace coaching

This course is aimed at individuals with little or no coaching experience, and have an interest in people, their development, wellbeing and performance. It will be highly valuable to managers, professionals or volunteers in any industry sector who want to develop the skills and values of good coaching, including active listening, questioning, paraphrasing, building rapport and importantly reflective practice. The activities in it will encourage you to observe, communicate interact and importantly, to establish a ‘contract’ to ensure both coach and coachee are comfortable with the frameworks used in coaching.

This course has been developed in collaboration with Management Futures who pioneered the development of coaching as a practical management and leadership tool.

Standalone study only

You will not be awarded credits for studying this course. It is available for standalone study only and cannot be counted towards an OU qualification.

Short course

Short course code

BGXS001

Credits

This is a non-credit bearing course.

Study method

Distance Learning

Short course cost

See Registration

Entry requirements

See Entry requirements
Course details Entry requirements Registration Study materials

What you will study

This course is intended to develop your own knowledge and skills as well as your practice. It immediately puts into use the coaching experience that you gain from interacting with those around you.

Active learning is encouraged and also reflection on learning from carrying out the short activities in each unit. These activities are set as mini professional challenges – exercises to try, to practice using the skills learnt and evaluating their impact and effectiveness. There are things to try out in your day-to-day practice as coach. The activities will encourage you to observe, communicate and interact in other ways with those you work with. Importantly, you’ll be guided in how to ‘contract’ with others to ensure both you and they are comfortable with the frameworks we are providing and you will use in coaching. You will be encouraged to get into the habit of recording brief insights and reflections on your coaching activity.

You will learn

 After completing this course you should be able to:

  • explain the benefits and apply the core skills of coaching in a variety of settings
  • apply a framework for coaching where you agree expectations with your coachee and control the flow of a conversation
  • find new coaching opportunities where you can facilitate others respectfully, to define and move closer to self-set goals
  • reflect on and evaluate your experiences of coaching and plan future practice.

Learner support

This course was designed to be independently studied with no tutor support. StudentHome is a dedicated website that provides general study support and there is a computing helpdesk.

Teaching and assessment

Assessment

There is an end-of-course quiz to test your knowledge and understanding. Once completed and successfully passed you will receive a digital badge and a course completion certificate which you can download as a record of your learning.

Regulations

As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.


Entry requirements

Although there are no formal academic requirements, you will benefit from being in a position to practice the skills and behaviours covered in this course.

If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact us.

Course length

The course will require around 10 hours to complete.

You can begin at any time during the life of the course and study at your own pace.

Register

Start End England fee Register
At anytime before registration end date Jul 2025 - see Entry requirements for more detail £150.00

Registration closes 31/07/2024

Register

Ways to pay

Credit/Debit Card – We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.

Sponsorship – If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.

The fee information provided here is valid for short courses starting in the 2024/25 academic year. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.

Can you study an Access module for free?

Depending on eligibility and availability of places, you could apply to study your Access module for free.

To qualify, you must:

  1. be resident in England
  2. have a household income of less than £25,000 (or be in receipt of a qualifying benefit)
  3. have not completed one year or more on any full-time undergraduate programme at FHEQ level 4 or above or successfully completed 30 credits or more of OU study within the last 10 years

How to apply to study an Access module for free

Once you've started the registration process, either online or over the phone, we'll contact you about your payment options. This will include instructions on how you can apply to study for free if you are eligible and funded places are still available.

If you're unsure if you meet the criteria to study for free, you can check with one of our friendly advisers on +44 (0)300 303 0069, or you can request a call back.

Not eligible to study for free?

Don't worry! We offer a choice of flexible ways to help spread the cost of your Access module. The most popular options include:

  • monthly payments through OUSBA
  • part-time tuition fee loan (you'll need to be registered on a qualification for this option)

To explore all the options available to you, visit Fees and Funding.

What's included

You’ll have access to a course website, which includes:

  • a unit-by-unit study planner
  • course-specific learning materials and activities
  • study support.

Computing requirements

You'll need broadband internet access and a desktop or laptop computer with an up-to-date version of Windows (10 or 11), or macOS Ventura or higher.

Functionality may be limited on mobile devices. For example, voice recorder activities, which are common in language short courses, may not work on iOS/Apple devices.

Our module websites comply with web standards and any modern browser is suitable for most activities.

Our OU Study mobile App will operate on all current, supported versions of Android and iOS. It's not available on Kindle.

It's also possible to access some module materials on a mobile phone, tablet device or Chromebook. However, as you may be asked to install additional software or use certain applications, you'll also require a desktop or laptop as described above.

If you have a disability

The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.

The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this  Accessibility Statement outlines what studying BGXS001 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.