Oxford Leading Strategic Projects Programme
Discover techniques for leading project teams to successful project delivery.
6 weeks, excluding 1 week orientation.
7–10 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: oxfordonline@getsmarter.com
Call: +44 1223 790 601
About this programme
The dynamic nature of the modern business environment means that traditional project management metrics such as time, cost, and scope are no longer sufficient indicators of success. To create long-term sustainable value for organisations, a strategic approach and a shift towards project leadership is required.
Strategic projects are those that have large-scale impact, requiring management that goes beyond the basics to help you adapt to unexpected change and contribute towards business objectives.
The Oxford Leading Strategic Projects Programme teaches you to effectively combine business strategy, leadership skills, and project management techniques to help guide your team through modern-day complexity in order to prosper from new opportunities. Over the course of six weeks, you’ll discover the benefits of strategic project leadership and equip yourself with the necessary tools to implement upfront planning to respond to potential business risks within today's volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world.
GetSmarter is approved by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) as an Authorized Training Partner (ATP), a partnership that enables you to join the world’s largest project management network. This Oxford Leading Strategic Projects Programme will count for 21.5 PDUs in total, and the division of hours is as follows: Technical - 4.75, Leadership - 4.00, Strategic - 12.75.
PMI is responsible for setting project management standards and providing certification. By taking this programme, you’ll gain PMI-endorsed skills that are globally recognised. You can also use these learning hours towards furthering your professional project management development. See PMI.org for more information.
Please note that GetSmarter and Oxford Saïd bear no responsibility for the reporting of these PDUs and/or hours to the PMI. The onus, therefore, falls on you to do so.
The PMI® Authorized Training Partner seal is a mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.
This Oxford Leading Strategic Projects Programme is certified by the United Kingdom CPD Certification Service, and may be applicable to individuals who are members of, or are associated with, UK-based professional bodies. The programme has an estimated 60 hours of learning.
Note: should you wish to claim CPD activity, the onus is on you. Oxford Saïd and GetSmarter accept no responsibility, and cannot be held responsible, for the claiming or validation of hours or points.
“It’s very rare in careers these days that you can avoid strategic projects forever. So, in being able to conceptualise, design and deliver a strategic project, you are adding to your CV a skill set that will enable you to show that you are an effective leader.”
Harvey Maylor
Programme Director
What this programme covers
Based on insight and research on mega projects from Oxford Saïd, the curriculum is unique in its approach to strategic project leadership, allowing you to navigate the uncertainties and complexities of project delivery in order to increase operational efficiency and achieve business-wide goals.
You’ll investigate the value and complexities of project leadership, and discover how to redefine measures of success for a strategic project. You’ll then learn how to respond to common challenges of scale and pace, dealing with people, power, and politics, as well as uncertainty and change. By the end of the programme, you’ll refine your personal leadership skills to ensure success in leading strategic project teams.
A powerful collaboration
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford is collaborating with digital education provider GetSmarter a 2U, Inc. brand, to create a new class of learning experience – one that is immersive, collaborative, and designed for optimal accessibility to the busy working professional.
About Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Saïd Business School blends the best of new and old. Deeply embedded in an 800-year-old world-class university, Oxford Saïd strives to educate people for successful business careers. As a community, Oxford Saïd seeks to use business acumen and global networks to address long-horizon phenomena like demographic change, new technologies, and natural resource scarcity. Oxford Saïd is committed to delivering cutting-edge education and ground-breaking research that transforms individuals, organisations, business practice and society.
Join the official Oxford Saïd Elumni community*
This is an official Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, alumni group for all open, online, and executive programmes. You’ll be able to network with past participants of other online and on-campus Oxford Saïd programmes, and gain first access to School news.
*Access to this group will only be granted following the participant’s successful completion and passing of the programme.
About GetSmarter
GetSmarter, part of edX, partners with the world's leading universities and institutions to select, design and deliver premium online short programmes with a data-driven focus on learning gain.
Technology meets academic rigour in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
As a participant of this programme, you will also gain unlimited access to edX’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. This platform will provide you with valuable career resources and events to support your professional journey. You can look forward to benefits including rich content, career templates, webinars, workshops, career fairs, networking events, panel discussions, and exclusive recruitment opportunities to connect you with potential employers.
What you’ll learn
You’ll be welcomed to the programme and begin connecting with fellow participants, while exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus. Be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review how your results will be calculated and distributed.
You’ll be required to complete your participant profile, confirm your email address for delivery of your digital certificate, and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Reflect on the value of strategic project leadership and determine the complexities inherent in leading strategic projects.
- Discuss the risks and opportunities of project leadership in organisations
- Review the foundational concepts of strategic project leadership
- Illustrate the role of the leader in strategic projects
- Determine the structural, sociopolitical, and emergent complexities of a specific strategic project
Re-evaluate the definition of success for strategic projects and the role of leadership in determining performance.
- Outline the benefits and limitations of the ‘Iron Triangle’ in assessing the relative importance of project objectives
- Analyse ‘complementarities’, ‘optimisers’, ‘givens’, and ‘trade-offs’ for a project in a given context
- Interpret the role of the leader in defining what success means for a project
- Categorise strategic projects as providing a product and a service
- Analyse what performance and success mean within the context of a specific strategic project
Learn more about the complexities of scale and pace in strategic projects and explore techniques to address these challenges effectively.
- Articulate the causes and effects of structural complexities in a strategic project
- Analyse structural complexities in a particular project
- Evaluate response actions to structural complexities
Learn more about the complexities of people, power, politics, and conflict in strategic projects.
- Articulate the causes and effects of sociopolitical complexities in a strategic project
- Analyse sociopolitical complexities in a particular project
- Evaluate response actions to sociopolitical complexities
Learn more about the complexities of uncertainty and change in strategic projects.
- Articulate the causes and effects of emergent complexities in a strategic project
- Analyse emergent complexities in a particular project
- Evaluate response actions to emergent complexities
Developing principles and practices for leading strategic projects.
- Synthesise your own principles for successfully leading strategic projects
- Reflect on the implication of leadership models for strategic projects
- Develop your own approaches to the practice of leading strategic projects
- Present a model for your own leadership of strategic projects
Who should take this programme
This programme is designed for professionals seeking to introduce strategic approaches and techniques for project leadership within business. These tools will enable participants to create sustainable environments for project success and improve their ability to achieve organisation-wide objectives.
Anyone in a senior strategic position or working within a project environment will benefit from the skills and knowledge shared on this programme. Project and programme managers will have the opportunity to elevate their skills to take on more complex projects that require more strategic forethought. Managers and consultants will improve the success of their projects by learning a more strategic approach, while business and operations professionals will understand how to effectively implement strategic projects for which they’re responsible. Professionals from the public sector and built environment will also improve their leadership skills to manage project teams and strategic initiatives more effectively.
While there are no prerequisites for this programme, project management experience will be beneficial in order to fully engage with the content.
This programme is for you if you want to:
Achieve business goals
Go beyond traditional project management and develop a set of leadership principles tailored for effective strategic project delivery.
Manage change
Develop the skills to assess risks, capitalise on opportunities, and navigate successfully through business uncertainty.
Lead with assurance
Be empowered to lead teams through the potential challenges of scale, pace, and managing people, power and politics.
Expand your network
Study alongside, and collaborate with, an international cohort of professionals, industry experts, and faculty from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
About the certificate
Upon successful completion of the programme, you’ll receive a certificate of attendance from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford as proof of your enhanced skills and thinking abilities.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a digital certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the programme handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the programme.
Your digital certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you upon successful completion of the programme, as per the stipulated requirements.
Who you'll learn from
These subject matter experts from Oxford Saïd guide the programme design and appear in a number of programme videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
Your Programme Directors
Harvey Maylor
Associate Professor in Management Practice, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Dr Alexander Budzier
Fellow in Management Practice in the Field of Information Systems, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Guest Experts
Abigail Tierney
Business Development Director, Serco
John McIntyre
Founder and CEO, HotPMO.com
David Prout
Former Director General, High Speed
Atif Ansar
Programme Director and Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Janet Smart
Reader in Operations Management, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Leasil Burrow
Associate Fellow, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Peter Tufano
Peter Moores Professor of Finance, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Jonathan Trevor
Associate Professor of Management Practice, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Steve New
Associate Professor of Operations Management, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Andrew White
Associate Dean of External Relations, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Sue Dopson
Rhodes Trust Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Deputy Dean, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Tim Morris
Professor of Management Studies, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
Ruth Murray-Webster
Partner, Beyond the Deal LLP
Andrew Wolstenholme
Strategic Consultant
Ken Charman
CEO, uFlexReward, Unilever
How you'll learn
Every programme is broken down into manageable, weekly modules, designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse learning activities:
- Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
- Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through weekly class-wide forums and reviewed small group discussions
- Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
- Investigate rich, real-world case studies
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in your own tailored leadership model to make you a more effective strategic project leader
Your success team
GetSmarter, with whom Oxford Saïd is collaborating to deliver this online programme, provides a personalised approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
Head Tutor
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
Success Advisor
Your one-on-one support, available during university hours (8am–5pm GMT) to resolve technical and administrative challenges.
Global success team
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
Technical requirements
Basic requirements
In order to complete this programme, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
Browser requirements
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when accessing the Online Campus. Although this is not a requirement, we have found that this browser performs best for ease of access to course material. This browser can be downloaded here.
Additional requirements
Certain programmes may require additional software and resources. These additional
software and resource requirements will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the beginning of the programme. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our programme delivery, and if these services are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have difficulty in accessing programme content. Please check with an Enrolment Advisor before registering for this programme if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
