1) Introduction to the Open University,and why we need to continue to build our change capability 2) What we're doing and how we're doing it 3) Challenges and opportunities: now and in the future

1. Building change capability
Jess Annison and Jan Jayes
July 2015

2. Agenda for this session
1) Introduction to the Open University, and why we need to continue to
build our change capability
2) What we’re doing, and how we’re doing it:
● Introduction to the Portfolio Office
● Our key focus areas
3) Challenges and opportunities: now and in the future
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3. Introduction to us!
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Jan Jayes
Portfolio Support Manager
Jess Annison
Head of Portfolio Office

4. The Open University
Providing high-quality distance learning for all
Open to people, places, methods and ideas
“What other nation in the world could have given us William Shakespeare, pork
pies, Christopher Wren, Windsor Great Park, The Open University, Gardeners’
Question Time and the chocolate digestive biscuit?”
Bill Bryson, author and honorary graduate of the OU
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Taught more than 1.8
million students. Almost
200,000 current students,
including more than 15,000
overseas.
72% of The Open
University’s research was
assessed as 4 or 3 star
(2014 REF)
Over 70% of students are
in full-time or part-time
employment
Four out of five FTSE
100 companies have
sponsored staff to
take OU courses.
Top ten of UK universities for
student satisfaction in the
National Student Survey, since the
survey began in 2005. 91% in
2013/14
Vast ‘open content portfolio’
includes over 800 free courses on
OpenLearn (4.5m visitors a year).
Plus Futurelearn: a private
company wholly owned by The OU

5. Life-changing learning
What are you capable of?
Link to OU video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktAnpf_nu5c&feature=player_profilepage
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6. Why do we need to build our change capability?
Like the rest of the HE sector, we’ve been going through a period of significant
change:
• Reduction in Government funding
• Introduction and rise in tuition fees
• Students demanding greater value
• Emergence of MOOCs
For the Open University in particular:
• Qualifications, as well as modules
• 37% decline in UK part-time students over last five years (sector-wide)
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The changing HE landscape

7. Why do we need to build our change capability?
The OU has a proud tradition of innovation and pushing boundaries in distance and
technology-enabled learning.
But we mustn’t be complacent:
• We’re a large, complex organisation; there’s a huge amount of change going on:
• Incremental improvements
• Organisational change
• Strategic change
• Disruptive change
• We’re not always confident that we manage change as well as we should.
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Internal factors

8. What are we doing about it?
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The Portfolio Office is helping to build change management capability
• Change is being led by units across the University.
• Our team – the Portfolio Office – reports into the Director of Strategy, and the Vice-
Chancellor.
• We aim to help the OU become:
Effective
processes
Enabling
systems
An
organisation that is
comfortable with
change and confident
in managing it
through…
Capable and
collaborative people
• We’re a small team,
established in 2012
• Our responsibility is to put the
building blocks in place, and
help people to use them.

9. Capable and collaborative people
Project professionals, and those delivering projects as a secondary skill
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• Project management competency
framework
• Reflection tools
• Standard change job descriptions
• Interview support tools
• Project management learning and
development pathway:
• External accredited training
(APM qualifications)
• In-house training
• Desk-based learning
• Mentoring and coaching
• Support individuals and line
managers: objective setting,
appraisals, development
planning
• Support recruitment, and
retention of great staff
• Improve our project capability
• Greater consistency and quality
• Greater transferability within the
OU
in order to...

10. Change community: shared knowledge, experiences and opportunities
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Advice, guidance,
examples
Opportunities
within the OU
News and
updates
Online discussion
- Yammer
Annual conference
Regular workshops
Capable and collaborative people

11. Effective processes
The OU’s methodology for managing projects
• OU Project Management Methodology –
affectionately(?!) known as OUPM
• Three models: Programme, Project and Project
Lite
• Mandated for some strategic projects; others
using it on a “pull basis”
• Current focus for improvement: benefits
realisation
• Also signposting to change
management resources and
support
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12. Effective processes
Assurance reporting to Sponsors and Executives
• Assurance reporting to the Vice-
Chancellor’s Executive on strategically
important projects
• In future? Project healthchecks, a focussed
review of project delivery with the project
team and its stakeholders
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13. Enabling systems
The OU’s enterprise project management tool for PMs and Sponsors
• Technology solution using Microsoft Project
Server 2013 on a SharePoint 2013 platform
• Manages project information in one place –
schedule, risk and issue logs, reporting
• Embeds OUPM – our methodology
Greater consistency
Greater transparency
Reduced duplication
Greater quality
Why use it?
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14. So, how are we doing?
Measuring and tracking our capability to deliver change successfully
• Wide take-up of services from administrative units, and increasingly
Faculties:
• 400+ members of the Change Community
• 60+ on the learning and development pilot, from a range of units
• 100+ projects being managed through the system
• Primarily on a “pull” basis, rather than “push”
• APM have accredited the project management aspects of our work
Is it having the right effect?
• Ongoing journey
• Maturity assessment - five levels
of maturity. Current assessment:
some good practice, but not yet
consistent 14

15. 15
Some key challenges and opportunities
Past and present
1. Securing buy-in to what we’re doing, and why
2. Tailoring and proportionality – not one size fits all!
3. Supporting change across a large, diverse, autonomous organisation
4. Changes in senior personnel
5. Balancing ‘top-down’ initiatives within ‘bottom-up’ (or ‘outside-in’?)
6. Not just structural / process / system change – but culture change
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16. Does your organisation
experience similar challenges
and opportunities
in building change capability?
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Discuss in small groups (2-3)
If so, how are you managing
them?
If not, what are the challenges in
your organisation?

17. 17
Small group discussion
Groups of 2-3 people, be prepared to feed back!
4. Changes in senior personnel
5. Balancing ‘top-down’ initiatives within ‘bottom-up’ (or ‘outside-in’?)
6. Not just structural / process / system change – but culture change
17
Does your organisation
experience similar
challenges and opportunities
in building change
capability?
Discuss in s
If so, how are you managing
them?
If not, what are the challenges
in your organisation?
1. Securing buy-in to what we’re doing,
and why
2. Tailoring and proportionality – not
one size fits all!
3. Supporting change across a large,
diverse, autonomous organisation

18. Any questions or
comments?
Thank you for taking
part!
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