Part One: Office Christmas party negotiations
Student A
Work in twos, with one person looking at the Student A worksheet and one person looking at the Student B worksheet. Don’t look at the other person’s worksheet.
You are arranging a Xmas party in your office together. To do all of the jobs will take 840 minutes and half of them (420 minutes of work) are on each worksheet. Your aim is to get your partner to do more work than you, so try to persuade them to take on big jobs while only accepting smaller jobs yourself. You can also agree to do some jobs together, in which case the time is split 50/ 50. Don’t tell your partner how long things will take.
Jobs to be done to arrange the office Xmas party, with lengths of time needed
Buy disposable crockery, cutlery, napkins, table cloths, etc 75 min.
Buy paper party hats, Xmas crackers, party poppers, etc. 60 min
Plan icebreaker party games (pin the tail on the donkey, etc) 50 min
Hang up the decorations (fairy lights, tinsel, wreath, holly, mistletoe, etc) 45 min
Dress up as Santa and give a speech at the beginning of the party 20 min
Organise some background Xmas music (Xmas carols, etc) 30 min
Tidy up and clean up after the party 140 min.
When you have negotiated everything on both lists or your teacher stops you, summarise your agreement and then add up how much of the 420 minutes on your list your partner has accepted to do, and how much is left for you. If you have agreed to do something together, split the time 50/50. Anything that hasn’t been discussed or hasn’t been agreed should be added to your time. Check that the total is 420 minutes.
Jobs your partner has agreed to do: _____________
Jobs left for you to do: _____________
= Total: 420 minutes
Then add those totals to those of your partner. The winner is the person who has less total work to do.
When you finish, discuss which jobs above are unnecessary or have unrealistic timing, and what other things you might do instead.
What do you think about the idea of having a party actually in your office?
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Christmas and New Year negotiations
Part One: Office Christmas party negotiations
Student B
Work in twos, with one person looking at the Student A worksheet and one person looking at the Student B worksheet. Don’t look at the other person’s worksheet.
You are arranging a Xmas party in your office together. To do all of the jobs will take 840 minutes and half of them (420 minutes of work) are on each worksheet. Your aim is to get your partner to do more work than you, so try to persuade them to take on big jobs while only accepting smaller jobs yourself. You can also agree to do some jobs together, in which case the time is split 50/ 50. Don’t tell your partner how long things will take.
Jobs to be done to arrange the office Xmas party, with lengths of time needed
Buy Xmas decorations (tinsel, wreath, holly, mistletoe, etc) 90 min
Try to find the office corkscrew, bottle opener and nutcrackers 60 min
Buy drinks (egg nog, mulled wine, etc), mixers and ice cubes 45 min
Organise Secret Santa and put the presents under the Xmas tree 30 min
Make sure everyone leaves at the end and call taxis 60 min
Put up decorate the Xmas tree (with an angel or star, tinsel, lights, baubles, etc) 50 min
Buy Xmas snacks (whole nuts in their shells, sugared almonds, candy canes, chocolate coins, gingerbread men, dried fruit such as dates and figs, etc) and desserts (Xmas pudding, mince pies and/ or Xmas cake, maybe fresh cream or ice cream) 75 min
Get the tree and lights from last year out of the storeroom 10 min
When you have negotiated everything on both lists or your teacher stops you, summarise your agreement and then add up how much of the 420 minutes on your list your partner has accepted to do, and how much is left for you. If you have agreed to do something together, split the time 50/50. Anything that hasn’t been discussed or hasn’t been agreed should be added to your time. Check that the total is 420 minutes.
Jobs your partner has agreed to do: _____________
Jobs left for you to do: _____________
= Total: 420 minutes
Then add those totals to those of your partner. The winner is the person who has less total work to do.
When you finish, discuss which jobs above are unnecessary or have unrealistic timing, and what other things you might do instead.
What do you think about the idea of having a party actually in your office?
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Part Two: Other Xmas and New Year negotiations
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Negotiate with a catering company for them to organise your office Xmas party for you.
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Your mother wants to have Xmas at your house this year for once. You are reluctant.
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Your teenage son wants to spend Xmas and New Year skiing with his friends instead of with his family.
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You are buying a huge number of Xmas goods to decorate your workplace. Try to negotiate a good deal with the supplier.
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One of you wants a very traditional Xmas day and the other wants to do something new and exciting. Try to reach agreement.
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You want to work together to cut down on the time and expense needed to buy presents for your whole family.
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You are not sure exactly what you need for the office Xmas party, but you don’t want to risk things being sold out before you order them. Try to find a solution with your supplier.
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You want to order some Xmas goods from a supplier but the things in the catalogue aren’t quite suitable.
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PDF for easy saving and printing: christmas-and-new-year-negotiations
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