Business abbreviations negotiations

Business abbreviations negotiations

Take turns choosing things from below to negotiate on, roleplaying that situation until you reach agreement or have to give up, then choosing another. “You” is the person who chose that roleplay, with the other person/ people in your group playing the other part(s).

With explanations version

• You need a venue for your AGM (annual general meeting/ shareholders’ meeting) next month. Negotiate with a hotel on using its largest conference room.
• Some people want ten minutes of AOB (any other business) scheduled for each meeting. You think it’s unnecessary to put it on the agenda. Negotiate a compromise.
• Your boss has asked you to complete a report ASAP (as soon as possible). Negotiate exactly when the deadline will be.
• Your boss wants to transfer you to a rapidly growing market in ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) like Cambodia, but you’d prefer to go to a more developed country in that region, preferably Singapore. Try to negotiate a compromise.
• Your company wants to move from only selling its products B2B (business to business) to also selling directly to consumers, but the agents, retailers, etc who now sell them to the end users will not be happy. Try to negotiate a compromise with those resellers.
• An investor with a small but growing percentage of your company’s shares wants several seats on the BoD (Board of Directors). Negotiate how many members, under what circumstances it will happen, etc.
• You have found a suitable CPA (certified public accountant) to work in your company, but his/ her demands seem excessive. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• Negotiate with a company over the terms for using their CRM (customer relations management) software (length of contract, lump-sum and regular payments, etc)
• Negotiate with a company which can provide certification of the standards of your company’s CSR (corporate social responsibility), discussing inspections, payment, use of their logo, advertising, etc.
• You have found a potential new CEO/ CFO/ CIO/ COO/ CTO (chief executive officer/ financial officer/ investment officer/ information officer/ operating officer/ technology officer), but a non-compete clause in their current contract means you can’t employ them without the agreement of their present company. Negotiate with that company.
• A delivery you are waiting for is already late. Negotiate with the supplier on the next ETA (estimated time of arrival), and compensation if that deadline is missed.
• You are a bank who need some new fin tech (financial technology). Negotiate with an IT company, including how tailor-made the technology will be.
• Try to negotiate paying less commission with the broker who carries out your forex (foreign exchange) transactions
• The FCA/ FSA/ SEC (Financial Conduct Authority/ Financial Services Authority/ Securities and Exchange Commission) has told your company how it must change in order to continue doing business. Negotiate deadlines for making those changes.
• Set your (personal) FY20… (financial/ fiscal year 20…) goals with your boss.
• The company wants to move the HQ (headquarters) somewhere less central and so cheaper, but the union members who you represent would prefer to stay where they are. Negotiate the location, how any change can be made easier for the workers, etc.
• The UK wants to hold their online meeting with you at two pm GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) but you want it at two pm EST (Eastern Standard Time). Try to negotiate a compromise.

• In your company, HR (the human resources department) are in charge of recruitment, but individual departments, divisions, teams, etc want to be able to recruit their own new members. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• Another company is using your IP (intellectual property, such as patented technology) without permission. Try to negotiate a deal with a law firm for them to take up the case.
• You are arranging an IPO (initial public offering) of a unicorn start-up company that you are the major investor in. Negotiate with the founder on how many shares he/ she and investors will get, how the money brought in by selling shares will be used, etc.
• You need advice on changing from a limited company (Ltd) to a public limited company (PLC). Negotiate with a management consultancy on using their services to help.
• The regulator in charge of M&A (mergers and acquisitions) is not happy with the monopolistic position your company would be in after your merger with a competitor. Negotiate the conditions under which they will approve your deal.
• You want time off to study for an MBA (Master of Business Administration). Try to agree on that with your boss.
• You want to sell your products in MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) for the first time. Negotiate with a local agent/ local trading company.
• You want to buy shares on the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). Negotiate with your broker on how much commission they will get to help you do that.
• You pass the interview to get a new job but are only offered 30,000 GBP PA (British pounds per annum). Try to negotiate a better salary.
• You need more data from the sales department in order to be able to finish off the P&L accounts (profit and loss accounts). Negotiate on how much info, by when, etc.
• The CEO wants to split off the PR (public relations) functions from the marketing department and make a separate PR department. You are the marketing director and so don’t want the marketing department to shrink. Try to negotiate a win-win solution.
• A business newspaper wants to hear your Q4 results (fourth-quarter results) before other newspapers do. Negotiate with them over that.
• You want more money for your R&D (research and development) budget. Negotiate with the finance department over how much you can get, what results will be necessary in return, etc.
• You want to invest all of your family trust’s funds in REITs (real estate investment trusts), but other family members want to avoid REITs. Negotiate an agreement.
• You are thinking about paying for sponsored search instead of SEO (search engine optimisation). Negotiate with a company that owns a famous search engine.
• The government wants exceptions for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) to only be for companies of up to only 25 employees, but the trade organisation for SMEs wants it to be for up to 500 employees. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• The office Xmas party is still TBD/ TBA/ TBC (to be decided/ to be determined/ to be announced/ to be arranged/ to be confirmed). Negotiate who will make decisions about it, when and how it will be announced, etc.
• A trade union wants more temps (temporary staff) to join the union, but most temps think that the union’s present policies prioritise people on permanent contracts and so are thinking of setting up their own union. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• You want to list “magic” as a USP (unique selling point) of your product on your company website, but the advertising standards authority isn’t happy about it. Try to reach an agreement with them on what wording you can use, etc.

Without explanations version

Try to remember the longer versions of all of these abbreviations

AND/ OR

Roleplay negotiations on topics from this list, asking your partner about any you don’t understand

• You need a venue for your AGM next month. Negotiate with a hotel on using its largest conference room.
• Some people want ten minutes of AOB scheduled for each meeting. You think it’s unnecessary to put it on the agenda. Negotiate a compromise.
• Your boss has asked you to complete a report ASAP. Negotiate exactly when the deadline will be.
• Your boss wants to transfer you to a rapidly growing market in ASEAN like Cambodia, but you’d prefer to go to a more developed country in that region, preferably Singapore. Try to negotiate a compromise.
• Your company wants to move from only selling its products B2B to also selling directly to consumers, but the agents, retailers, etc who now sell them to the end users will not be happy. Try to negotiate a compromise with those resellers.
• An investor with a small but growing percentage of your company’s shares wants several seats on the BoD. Negotiate how many members, under what circumstances it will happen, etc.
• You have found a suitable CPA to work in your company, but his/ her demands seem excessive. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• Negotiate with a company over the terms for using their CRM software (length of contract, lump-sum and regular payments, etc)
• Negotiate with a company which can provide certification of the standards of your company’s CSR, discussing inspections, payment, use of their logo, advertising, etc.
• You have found a potential new CEO/ CFO/ CIO/ COO/ CTO, but a non-compete clause in their current contract means you can’t employ them without the agreement of their present company. Negotiate with that company.
• A delivery you are waiting for is already late. Negotiate with the supplier on the next ETA, and compensation if that deadline is missed.
• You are a bank who need some new fin tech. Negotiate with an IT company, including how tailor-made the technology will be.
• Try to negotiate paying less commission with the broker who carries out your forex transactions.
• The FCA/ FSA/ SEC has told your company how it must change in order to continue doing business. Negotiate deadlines for making those changes.
• Set your (personal) FY20… goals with your boss.
• The company wants to move the HQ somewhere less central and so cheaper, but the union members who you represent would prefer to stay where they are. Negotiate the location, how any change can be made easier for the workers, etc.
• The UK wants to hold their online meeting with you at two pm GMT but you want it at two pm EST. Try to negotiate a compromise.

• In your company, HR are in charge of recruitment, but individual departments, divisions, teams, etc want to be able to recruit their own new members. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• Another company is using your IP without permission. Try to negotiate a deal with a law firm for them to take up the case.
• You are arranging an IPO of a unicorn start-up company that you are the major investor in. Negotiate with the founder on how many shares he/ she and investors will get, how the money brought in by selling shares will be used, etc.
• You need advice on changing from an Ltd to a PLC. Negotiate with a management consultancy on using their services to help.
• The regulator in charge of M&A is not happy with the monopolistic position your company would be in after your merger with a competitor. Negotiate the conditions under which they will approve your deal.
• You want time off to study for an Try to agree on that with your boss.
• You want to sell your products in MENA for the first time. Negotiate with a local agent/ local trading company.
• You want to buy shares on the NYSE. Negotiate with your broker on how much commission they will get to help you do that.
• You pass the interview to get a new job but are only offered 30,000 GBP PA. Try to negotiate a better salary.
• You need more data from the sales department in order to be able to finish off the P&L accounts. Negotiate on how much info, by when, etc.
• The CEO wants to split off the PR functions from the marketing department and make a separate PR department. You are the marketing director and so don’t want the marketing department to shrink. Try to negotiate a win-win solution.
• A business newspaper wants to hear your Q4 results before other newspapers do. Negotiate with them over that.
• You want more money for your R&D budget. Negotiate with the finance department over how much you can get, what results will be necessary in return, etc.
• You want to invest all of your family trust’s funds in REITs, but other family members want to avoid REITs. Negotiate an agreement.
• You are thinking about paying for sponsored search instead of SEO. Negotiate with a company that owns a famous search engine.
• The government wants exceptions for SMEs to only be for companies of up to only 25 employees, but the trade organisation for SMEs wants it to be for up to 500 employees. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• The office Xmas party is still TBD/ TBA/ TBC. Negotiate who will make decisions about it, when and how it will be announced, etc.
• A trade union wants more temps to join the union, but most temps think that the union’s present policies prioritise people on permanent contracts and so are thinking of setting up their own union. Try to negotiate an agreement.
• You want to list “magic” as a USP of your product on your company website, but the advertising standards authority isn’t happy about it. Try to reach an agreement with them on what wording you can use, etc.

Use the mixed answers below to help with the writing full versions of abbreviations above. Some can be used more than once.

Mixed answers

Some can be used more than once.

accountant                   acquisitions                              administration               Africa

and                             announced                              annual                          annum

any                              arranged                                 arrival                                     as

Asian                           association of               authority                                  be

board                           British                         business                                  certified

chief                            commission                             company                                 conduct

confirmed                    corporate                                 customer                                 decided

determined                  development                            directors                                  east(ern)

engine             enterprise                                estate                          estimated

exchange                     executive                                 financial                                  fiscal

foreign             fourth                                      general                        great

Greenwich                   headquarters                           human                                    information

initial                           intellectual                              investment                              limited

loss                            management                           master of                                mean

medium-sized meeting                                   mergers and                middle

nations             new                                        North                                       of

offering            officer                                      operating                                 optimisation

other                           per                                         point                                       possible

pounds                        profit and                                property                                  public

quarter             real                                         relations                                   research

resources                    responsibility                            search                         securities and

selling             services                                   small and                                 social

soon                            south                                       standard                                 stock

technology                   temporary (staff)                      time (of)                                  to

trust                            unique                        year                                         York

Check with the first version above.

Test each other on the abbreviations:

• Read out the full version and see if your partner can say the abbreviation
• Say the abbreviation and see if your partner can say the full version
• Say an abbreviation and see if your partner can put it into an example sentence
• Say an abbreviation in a proposal (as if you were discussing it in a negotiation) and see if your partner can reply
• Make other situations like those above with the same abbreviations, then pass them to another group to choose roleplays from