Online ExpertTrack in Business & Management

Business Agility Foundations

Discover how business agility can improve performance, create efficient teams, and benefit your organisation.

Created by

The Open UniversityThe Open University

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In collaboration with

Agile Business ConsortiumAgile Business Consortium

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Learn the fundamentals of business agility and gain skills for a changing world

We live in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, and complex world. The world, the work environment, and technology are changing fast, creating more uncertainty.

Organisations that embrace business agility are able to quickly adapt, learn, and stay customer-focused. Agile organisations and teams are more adaptive, creative, and resilient. They work faster, better, and deliver greater value for their stakeholders.

Develop your understanding of the essential elements needed for an agile organisation

The four courses in this ExpertTrack will give you an introduction to business agility principles and how it can deliver better performance and value.

Over 12 weeks, you’ll explore the philosophy, values, and principles of business agility, the benefits and challenges of more agile ways of working, how organisational culture can enable business agility, and the environment that’s needed for an agile culture to thrive. You’ll be introduced to a framework to understand the elements needed for business agility and you’ll also discover how continuous learning, a growth mindset, and engaging others can support organisational change and create business agility.

Discover how business agility and leadership can help organisations thrive

By the end of this ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to describe business agility and know how to recognise it. You’ll understand the culture and characteristics needed to support business agility and identify how they relate to an organisation you are familiar with. You’ll also become familiar with a framework for business agility, and you’ll recognise the need for a mindset shift that is value, stakeholder, and customer-focused.

Finally, you will consider your own business agility journey and think about approaches that might help.

Designed by experts at the Agile Business Consortium and The Open University

This course has been developed by The Open University in collaboration with the Agile Business Consortium, a global leader and the professional body for promoting business agility. You’ll learn from experienced leaders in this field and cover a range of diverse and relevant material. By investing in your professional development, you’ll gain the skills and knowledge needed for teams and organisations to succeed in today’s world.

Please note this course is about business agility and the ability of organisations to respond to changes as a whole, rather than the iterative Agile approach to project management and software development.

Key skills you will learn

  • Agility in an organisational context
  • Characteristics of agile culture
  • Ways to assess agile culture
  • Value of a people-centric approach
  • Team working
  • Interpersonal development skills which support agile working practice

Learning outcomes

By the end of the ExpertTrack, you’ll be able to...

  • Describe business agility and how to recognise it
  • Explain the key elements of a framework for business agility
  • Understand the culture and characteristics needed to support business agility and identify how they relate to organisations you are familiar with
  • Understand the importance of a shift in mindset, with a focus on delivering value for stakeholders in an environment of collaboration, innovation and learning
  • Consider your own business agility journey and think about approaches that might help

Experience required

This ExpertTrack is for anyone new to business agility or those with a basic understanding who want to know more.

Some workplace and/or team-based experience will help you understand the content of the course in the context of a working organisation (of any size, sector, or industry). The course material does not assume that learners are currently working. Past experiences will be just as relevant.

We recommend the courses in this ExpertTrack are taken in the order presented to develop your knowledge effectively.

Getting started

This ExpertTrack is particularly suitable for:

  • Those new to business agility or those with a basic understanding who want to know more about it and how they can develop their own practical business agility for future roles.
  • Those struggling to understand how to survive and thrive in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world.
  • Those wishing to broaden their skillset and expand their Continuing Professional Development.

ExpertTrack course overview

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

  • Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
  • Complete each course and pass assessments.
  • Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
  • Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
  • Make your career dreams a reality.

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How ExpertTracks work

Join an ExpertTrack to master new skills in your chosen specialist area. Work through a series of topic-focused courses at your own pace, and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate award which proves your expertise.

Join a free 2-day trial

Decide if the ExpertTrack is right for you with free access to the full suite of courses and assessments for a week.

Keep learning for $39/month

Pay a monthly subscription fee of $39 for as long as it takes you to complete the ExpertTrack. You can learn at your own pace and cancel at any time.

Earn digital certificates

Receive a certificate for every completed course and pass the final assessment to earn a digital certificate.

Become an expert

Use your specialist training to progress further in your career or build expertise in areas you’re passionate about.

World-class learning with The Open University

As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.

  • Established

    1969
  • Location

    Milton Keynes, UK
  • World ranking

    Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020

This ExpertTrack is in collaboration with Agile Business Consortium

The Agile Business Consortium is the global professional body for Business Agility, with unrivalled expertise in the field. A UK based not-for-profit organisation and the brains behind AgilePM®, AgileBA®, AgilePgM® and AgileDS™.

Meet your instructor

Rod Willis is a Professional Executive Coach and Business Agility expert. He is an Agile Business Consortium Scrum Master who supports the agile community through conferences, courses and online tools

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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After your free trial you can:

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FAQ

ExpertTracks are a series of online courses designed to help you master new skills in specialist areas. You pay a monthly subscription fee which includes access to all courses within the ExpertTrack, as well as assessments and the final digital certificate.

Each ExpertTrack comes with a 2-day free trial period. You may cancel your subscription at any time and your subscription will automatically cancel when you finish the courses and assessments in your chosen ExpertTrack.

Yes. All of our ExpertTracks come with a 2-day free trial. You may claim one free trial period per ExpertTrack.

You have two days before you will be charged your first monthly subscription fee. When you join an ExpertTrack you automatically receive a 2-day free trial period. You can cancel at any time during the trial period and no payment will be taken from your account.

Please see our full refund policy here.

No, all of our ExpertTracks consist of fully online courses. This means you can take an ExpertTrack from anywhere in the world.

No. ExpertTracks are designed for you to master new skills in a specialist area. You will earn a digital certificate that proves your learning, but it does not carry accreditation.

If you’re looking for certified or accredited courses, many of our microcredentials offer university credit or professional certification.

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