The Negotiation Gauntlet
Two rows of chairs face each other. Every 4 minutes a buzzer sounds, one row shifts along, and a fresh negotiation begins with a new partner and a new scenario. Hidden goal cards mean neither side knows what the other really wants, so the room fills with bluffing, alliances and the occasional walkout.
How to run it
Arrange two rows of chairs facing each other. Row A players stay seated all lesson; Row B players shift one seat to the left after every round. Everyone negotiates with a new partner each round.
For each scenario, Row A gets the A goal card and Row B gets the B goal card (show each row their card while the other row closes their eyes, or hand out printed slips). Nobody reveals their card. Read the public scenario aloud to everyone.
Pairs negotiate. A deal must be written down in one sentence and signed by both players before the buzzer, or it does not count. No deal is allowed, but scores nothing.
After each round, reveal the hidden goals aloud and let pairs self-score: 3 points if your deal met your hidden goal fully, 1 point if partially, 0 for no deal or a deal that betrayed your goal. Keep personal running totals.
After all 5 rounds, the highest individual score is crowned Top Closer. Debrief: which tactics appeared? Anchoring high, silence, deadline pressure, splitting the difference. Link to real stakeholder conflicts: managers vs unions, suppliers vs retailers.
🖨 5 scenarios with hidden goal cards
| Scenario (read aloud) | Row A hidden goal | Row B hidden goal |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The pay rise. A is a cafe manager, B a barista asking for a raise from £11 to £13 per hour. | You can afford £12 max. But you MUST keep B: they are your best worker and training a replacement costs a fortune. Losing them = disaster. | You would actually stay for £11.80 plus one free Saturday off per month. You are bluffing about another job offer. |
| 2. The supplier squeeze. A is a supermarket buyer, B a small bakery selling sourdough at £2.20 a loaf wholesale. | Head office demands you cut the price to £1.90 or drop the bakery. Secretly, customers love this bread and dropping it would hurt sales. | Below £2.00 you lose money on every loaf. But this contract is 60% of your revenue. You desperately need a longer contract length more than a high price. |
| 3. The shop lease. A is a landlord, B a tenant renewing the lease on a high-street shop currently at £1,500 a month. | The unit next door has been empty for 8 months. An empty shop earns you nothing. You will secretly accept £1,400 if the contract is 3 years. | Your online sales now make up half your income. You want £1,200 or a 1-year contract so you can escape to online-only if the high street keeps declining. |
| 4. The influencer deal. A is a marketing manager for a trainer brand, B a fitness influencer with 400k followers asking £5,000 per post. | Your budget is £3,000 per post, but you can offer unlimited free products and a 6-post package. Long-term partnership beats one viral post. | Your engagement is quietly falling. You need a long-term contract for stable income and would take £2,500 per post for a 6-post deal. |
| 5. The merger of rivals. A and B run the two rival tutoring companies in the same town, discussing joining forces. | Your bookings are down 30% this year (keep that quiet). You want a merger where you become the single boss of the combined firm. | You are profitable and growing, but exhausted and secretly want to work part-time. Title does not matter; you want 60% of the profits with fewer hours. |
Variations
- Agent round: each negotiator brings a silent advisor who may only pass written notes, turning pairs into fours.
- Reputation carries: keep a public deal-breaker list. Anyone who signs a deal and then admits their card contradicted it gets a Snake badge and loses 1 point in every later round.
- A-Level stretch: after round 5, students write up ONE negotiation as a stakeholder conflict analysis using the language of bargaining power.
Teacher tips
- Enforce the written, signed deal rule. Verbal deals evaporate and the scoring collapses without paper evidence.
- Read the room and shorten to 3 minutes per round if pairs finish early; dead air kills momentum.
- The reveal is the lesson. Spend as long on 'what was on the other card' reactions as on the negotiations themselves.
The Business School is a live simulation where your class runs rival firms for a full lesson — pricing wars, hiring, crises, negotiations. Free teacher demo, no installs, students join with a PIN.