Negotiation Done Well - BATNA Baby!
In any business, charity or project - we negotiate. Whether its agreeing a lease for a building, engaging a new IT provider, or with a new team member coming on board, we negotiate a lot. When the stakes are low, it’s easy to whip through the negotiation without breaking a sweat. When the stakes are high though, the sweat increases and very quickly it starts to feel like you’re soaking in the hot pools in Hanmer.
One of the best but lesser known tactics to help calm the farm and cool the nerves, is knowing well ahead of time, what your options are if you can’t get the win/win you’re seeking. This is called a BATNA.
Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
The term BATNA was originally used by Roger Fisher and William Ury in their 1981 book entitled “Getting to Yes: Negotiating Without Giving In”.
BATNAs are critical to negotiation because they give you the confidence when you’re in the hot seat having to decide, to say YAY or NAY. This is your ‘what if’ planning, where you design up your best case, next best case, and walk away point. Two or more BATNAS are better than one – they give you options!
Having a strong BATNA or two increases your negotiating power as you’re not laser focused on one solution, you’ve got the confidence to roll a few ways.
If you’ve only got the one option, and no BATNAs, that’s a shxtty spot to be in as your stakes are high, wriggle room is lean and the other party can ratchet up their demands, or refuse to concede on anything. You’re pretty exposed in those moments, and you may then decide to accept the offer on the table, not because it’s a good one, but because you don't have a better option.
To create your BATNAs, collect the necessary brains trust and start working through the options. Some questions to help would be:
What happens if we can’t agree this?
What are (atleast) three other options we can look at?
What is our walk away point/price/position?
How else can we achieve our objective?
What are we willing to add in or give up here?
Psssst …. here’s the real secret …
We know first hand this is GEM! Scope up the other party’s BATNA! During the planning session for the negotiation, as you’re mapping your own BATNA and shaping the options, flip it and jump into the other party’s shoes. See what their options may be. This gives you good insight ahead of the game as to who’s likely to have some advantage and your prepare in advance will be even stronger.
Of course there’ll be a tonne of assumptions, but sometimes they’re bang on! Go on, give it a crack!
The final thing to note is to keep your BATNA top secret. While everyone in the team working on the negotiation should be crystal clear on the plan of action, when you’re in front of the other party, keep your cards close to your chest until you have to decide. So build your BATNAs and get into the hot seat!
