Agriculture and Nature Conservation Primary Agriculture

Facilitate Group Problem Solving and Objective Achievement Training

SAQA US 252477 | NQF 5 | Credits 10 | Duration 7 Days
From $1,523 per delegate

Description

This course equips learners with the skills to facilitate group processes aimed at achieving specific objectives or solving complex problems. Participants will learn to guide diverse groups through structured decision-making and collaborative problem-solving techniques, ensuring productive outcomes and enhanced team cohesion.

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate the ability to plan and prepare for a group facilitation session to achieve a stated objective or solve a problem.
  • Apply appropriate facilitation techniques to guide group interaction and maintain focus on the objective.
  • Analyse group dynamics and adapt facilitation style to enhance participation and manage conflict.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the group process in achieving the stated objective or solving the problem.
  • Implement strategies to ensure group decisions are documented and actioned appropriately.
  • Reflect on personal facilitation practice and identify areas for improvement.

Target Audience

Team leaders, supervisors, managers, and professionals who are responsible for facilitating group discussions, meetings, or workshops to achieve defined goals or resolve challenges within their organisation.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment.

Course Outline

Day 1: Introduction to Group Problem Solving and Objective Achievement

Objectives:
• Understand the purpose and scope of the unit standard.
• Define key concepts: group dynamics, problem solving, and objective achievement.
• Identify the roles and responsibilities of a facilitator in group processes.
• Recognise the importance of a structured approach to problem solving.

Topics:
• Overview of Unit Standard 252477
• Key concepts: group problem solving, objective achievement, facilitation
• The facilitator's role: guide, encourager, mediator
• Stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning)
• Benefits of structured problem-solving processes
• Introduction to the problem-solving cycle

Day 2: Understanding Group Dynamics and Communication

Objectives:
• Analyse group dynamics and their impact on problem solving.
• Apply effective communication techniques within groups.
• Identify barriers to effective group communication.
• Foster an inclusive environment for diverse perspectives.

Topics:
• Group dynamics: norms, roles, cohesion, conflict
• Communication models and active listening
• Non-verbal communication and its influence
• Overcoming communication barriers
• Encouraging participation and managing dominant voices
• Cultural sensitivity and diversity in groups

Day 3: Problem Identification and Analysis Techniques

Objectives:
• Use techniques to clearly define a problem.
• Apply root cause analysis methods.
• Differentiate between symptoms and root causes.
• Gather and organise relevant information.

Topics:
• Problem identification: framing the issue
• Root cause analysis: 5 Whys, fishbone diagram
• Data gathering techniques: brainstorming, interviews, surveys
• Problem statement formulation
• Prioritising problems based on impact and urgency
• Tools for information organisation (mind maps, affinity diagrams)

Day 4: Creative and Analytical Problem-Solving Methods

Objectives:
• Apply creative thinking techniques to generate solutions.
• Use analytical tools to evaluate options.
• Facilitate group decision-making processes.
• Reach consensus on the best solution.

Topics:
• Creative techniques: brainstorming, SCAMPER, lateral thinking
• Analytical tools: SWOT analysis, decision matrices, cost-benefit analysis
• Decision-making models: majority vote, consensus, multi-voting
• Facilitating productive discussions during evaluation
• Risk assessment of proposed solutions
• Selecting and refining the preferred solution

Day 5: Planning for Objective Achievement

Objectives:
• Develop an action plan to implement the chosen solution.
• Set SMART objectives aligned with the solution.
• Assign roles, responsibilities, and timelines.
• Identify resources and potential obstacles.

Topics:
• SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound
• Action planning: tasks, milestones, deadlines
• Resource identification: human, financial, material
• Risk mitigation strategies
• Monitoring and evaluation framework
• Communication plan for stakeholders

Day 6: Facilitation Skills and Managing Group Challenges

Objectives:
• Demonstrate effective facilitation techniques.
• Handle group conflicts and resistance constructively.
• Keep the group focused and motivated.
• Adapt facilitation style to group needs.

Topics:
• Facilitation techniques: questioning, paraphrasing, summarising
• Managing conflict: interest-based negotiation, mediation
• Dealing with difficult behaviours (e.g., off-topic, negativity)
• Maintaining energy and engagement
• Time management during sessions
• Ethical considerations and confidentiality

Day 7: Integration, Assessment, and Reflection

Objectives:
• Integrate all learning into a comprehensive facilitation plan.
• Conduct a simulated facilitation session.
• Receive and provide constructive feedback.
• Reflect on personal facilitation strengths and areas for growth.

Topics:
• Review of the complete problem-solving and objective-achievement process
• Simulated facilitation exercise (group problem-solving scenario)
• Peer and trainer feedback
• Self-assessment and reflection
• Portfolio of evidence requirements
• Action plan for ongoing development

Practicals

24 hours of practicals To be conducted online or on-campus or in-house
Overview

Practicals allow learners to apply facilitation techniques in realistic group settings. Through simulated problem-solving sessions, learners practice guiding groups through the entire process from problem identification to action planning, receiving real-time feedback to refine their skills.

Practical Activities
  • Facilitated Problem-Solving Simulation — Learners facilitate a small group through a structured problem-solving process using a given scenario, applying techniques from Days 1-4. (8h)
  • Action Planning and Objective Setting Workshop — Learners lead a group in developing a detailed action plan with SMART objectives for the solution identified in the first practical. (6h)
  • Conflict Resolution Role-Play — Learners handle a simulated conflict scenario within a group, applying conflict resolution and mediation techniques. (4h)
  • Integrated Facilitation Assessment — Learners facilitate a complete problem-solving session from problem identification to action planning, assessed against unit standard criteria. (6h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total
Component Out of Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored) 100% 30%
Daily Average (multiple choice) 100% 20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice) 100% 50%
Final Total 100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

Certificate of Completion

Awarded to delegates who achieve an overall mark of 50% or higher on the Final Total (Practicals 30% + Daily Average 20% + Final Test 50%).

How it works
  • Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
  • Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
  • You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
  • If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.
Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.

Upcoming Training Sessions
Online training — attend live sessions from anywhere via our virtual classroom.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Tue 08 Sep 2026 Wed 16 Sep 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,523 Register
Mon 28 Sep 2026 Tue 06 Oct 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,523 Register
Fri 23 Oct 2026 Mon 02 Nov 2026 Virtual Spring 2026 $1,523 Register
Fri 11 Dec 2026 Mon 21 Dec 2026 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,523 Register
Thu 14 Jan 2027 Fri 22 Jan 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,523 Register
Wed 17 Feb 2027 Thu 25 Feb 2027 Virtual Summer 2026 $1,523 Register
Tue 02 Mar 2027 Wed 10 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,523 Register
Mon 08 Mar 2027 Tue 16 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,523 Register
Fri 19 Mar 2027 Mon 29 Mar 2027 Virtual Autumn 2027 $1,523 Register
Thu 10 Jun 2027 Fri 18 Jun 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,523 Register
Wed 30 Jun 2027 Thu 08 Jul 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,523 Register
Tue 20 Jul 2027 Wed 28 Jul 2027 Virtual Winter 2027 $1,523 Register
Mon 06 Sep 2027 Tue 14 Sep 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $1,523 Register
Fri 01 Oct 2027 Mon 11 Oct 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $1,523 Register
Thu 21 Oct 2027 Fri 29 Oct 2027 Virtual Spring 2027 $1,523 Register
Fri 10 Dec 2027 Mon 20 Dec 2027 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,523 Register
Thu 30 Dec 2027 Fri 07 Jan 2028 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,523 Register
Wed 19 Jan 2028 Thu 27 Jan 2028 Virtual Summer 2027 $1,523 Register
On-Campus training — face-to-face sessions at our training venues across Africa and beyond.
Showing all 499 sessions across 26 venues
Start End Venue Season Price Action
Fri 31 Jul 2026 Mon 10 Aug 2026 Lagos, Nigeria Winter 2026 $5,173 Register
Mon 03 Aug 2026 Tue 11 Aug 2026 Mauritius Winter 2026 $4,525 Register
Tue 04 Aug 2026 Wed 12 Aug 2026 Cape Town, South Africa Winter 2026 $3,769 Register
Wed 05 Aug 2026 Thu 13 Aug 2026 Dubai, UAE Winter 2026 $5,929 Register
Thu 06 Aug 2026 Fri 14 Aug 2026 Pretoria, South Africa Winter 2026 $2,284 Register
In-House training — we bring the trainer to your organisation, tailored to your team.
Start End Delivery Season Price Action
Wed 16 Sep 2026 Thu 24 Sep 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,982 Register
Tue 06 Oct 2026 Wed 14 Oct 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,982 Register
Mon 26 Oct 2026 Tue 03 Nov 2026 Your Premises Spring 2026 $1,982 Register
Mon 14 Dec 2026 Tue 22 Dec 2026 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,982 Register
Fri 22 Jan 2027 Mon 01 Feb 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,982 Register
Thu 25 Feb 2027 Fri 05 Mar 2027 Your Premises Summer 2026 $1,982 Register
Wed 10 Mar 2027 Thu 18 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,982 Register
Tue 16 Mar 2027 Wed 24 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,982 Register
Mon 22 Mar 2027 Tue 30 Mar 2027 Your Premises Autumn 2027 $1,982 Register
Fri 18 Jun 2027 Mon 28 Jun 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,982 Register
Thu 08 Jul 2027 Fri 16 Jul 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,982 Register
Wed 28 Jul 2027 Thu 05 Aug 2027 Your Premises Winter 2027 $1,982 Register
Tue 14 Sep 2027 Wed 22 Sep 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,982 Register
Mon 04 Oct 2027 Tue 12 Oct 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,982 Register
Fri 29 Oct 2027 Mon 08 Nov 2027 Your Premises Spring 2027 $1,982 Register
Mon 13 Dec 2027 Tue 21 Dec 2027 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,982 Register
Fri 07 Jan 2028 Mon 17 Jan 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,982 Register
Thu 27 Jan 2028 Fri 04 Feb 2028 Your Premises Summer 2027 $1,982 Register
Training Discounts
Delegates Discount
5 3% off
10 6% off
15 9% off
20 12% off
25 15% off
30 18% off
50 30% off
75 35% off
100 40% off

3% off per 5 delegates, up to 40% for 100+

View Sessions & Register Get A Quote Download Course Brochure
Have an account?

Sign in to track your applications and manage your cart.

Related Courses

Other Agriculture and Nature Conservation courses at NQF level 5 learners on this page also viewed.

Browse the full Agriculture and Nature Conservation category for agriculture and nature conservation training programmes.
GET A QUOTE / APPLY COURSE CATALOGUE