100 Pesos Negotiation

Filipinos often find it difficult to negotiate. So, they can save their skin and go with the “majority rules” as if the majority is always right. They don’t explore other solutions. When this happens, the team moves too slowly.

In this team-building activity, team members negotiate with each other for 100 pesos.

You need two fifty-peso bills for each team of three participants.

Process

Here’s how to do it.

  1. Divide the group into teams of three.
  2. Give each team two fifty-peso bills.
  3. They have 5 minutes to decide who will keep the money between the three.
  4. If all else fails, a simple majority vote can decide.
  5. After 5 minutes, any team still undecided will lose the bills back to you.

“We agreed Jose would get both bills. We trust she will donate them to her son’s soccer team fund.”

“We agreed Maria would get one, and Therese would get the other. So they will let me be the first to close my register the rest of the week.”

“We agreed that Ken would get the 100 pesos. He gave each of us one-minute shoulder massages!”

Debrief

Debrief this activity by asking these questions.

What strategies did you use during the negotiation?

Which were most helpful?

Did everyone rely on majority rules? Why or why not?

How did the time limit influence how you negotiated?

(I felt rushed; It put more pressure on us; It made me cave in quicker; I was more aggressive; etc.)

How did you find out what the others valued? (I

just asked them what they wanted; I listened to what

they were offering me and assumed they valued that;

etc.)

What implications does this have for us back on the job?

Facilitation Tips

  • Emphasize that this is not just an exercise.
  • Whoever ends up with the bills gets to keep them.
  • Two participants can end up with 50 pesos each,
  • or one participant can get both coins.
  • Give a 2-minute warning before the play is to end.
  • Most teams will not come up with the obviously easy solution: two participants collude and vote to award fifty pesos to each of themselves. Explore why this did or did not happen during the Debrief and compare it to how things happen on the job.
  •  If one or two participants are not in a threesome, they can be Observers. The Observer role is to quietly watch the others participate. 
  • During the Debrief, the Observer shares their unique observations. OR, have them create foursomes.
  • The dynamics change considerably when an even number of participants use the majority rules.

Try these variations

Give each team only a 100-peso bill to negotiate.

Use something other than money that all participants would value.

Divide the group into pairs. Give each pair one 100-peso bill to negotiate between them.

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