BATNA: Knowing When to Walk Away
Negotiation is a central practice of daily life for all of us, and, consciously or not, we have been negotiating our entire lives. As central as it is, the theory and formal process of negotiation is typically unfamiliar to individuals in marginalized communities. In fact, 73% of participants in Negotiation Works programs report not receiving formal negotiation training and being unfamiliar with negotiation jargon prior to taking our course. One reason that our participants are particularly unlikely to have received previous negotiation training is that such instruction is often available in programs of higher education, and respondents reported minimal access to higher education–only 18% had completed either an Associate’s or higher degree.
Given our participants’ lack of prior negotiation training, many of the concepts in the Negotiation Works programs were new to them; still, our data demonstrates that certain topics were particularly transformative for our participants’ negotiation strategies. Our recent evaluation--which covered the 23 courses we taught between July 2020 and December 2021 for 197 participants--demonstrates that participants’ understanding of specific negotiation strategies, particularly related to the concepts of BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement), Communication (including active listening techniques), and Trust & Reliability (including strategies for crafting durable agreements), increased after taking our course. In our end-of-course survey, respondents overwhelmingly identified BATNA as the most useful concept from the course, followed by Interests and Communication.
Participants have often considered how and when to walk away from unproductive everyday negotiations. Nonetheless, they report that learning about and then intentionally applying the formal concept of BATNA helps them negotiate more deliberately and, ultimately, more successfully. A term of art in the negotiation world, BATNA is a back-up plan, or what action a negotiator would take if the parties are unable to reach an agreement through negotiation. Though participants might assume that a course on negotiation would espouse the view that all disputes can and should be resolved, they soon learn that the course gives no such directive. Rather, instructors refute this common assumption, explaining that knowing your BATNA serves as an important benchmark for whether it makes more sense to agree to a negotiated outcome, or to walk away, in any particular dispute. Participants learn to compare the negotiated option on the table against their BATNA and to be very intentional in assessing whether they would be better served with one versus the other.
Participants tell us that once they learn about BATNA as a formal concept, they apply it immediately in working through conflicts and other challenging life situations. In the weeks following the BATNA class, participants report on weekly Quick Checks having used this concept in a wide range of situations. For example, John, from the Georgetown Pivot Program, detailed that he had evaluated both parties’ BATNAs to help him work through a situation with his business partner. Marcus, also from the Georgetown Pivot Program, said that “sticking to my BATNA” was helpful in a recent dispute with his cousin. Charlene, from Calvary Women’s Services, shared that “having a good BATNA” helped her in a difficult situation involving obtaining a housing voucher.
By analyzing their BATNAs in any given situation, participants can achieve solutions that are specifically tailored to their needs. Participants sometimes find it best to resolve a situation via negotiated agreement; other times, walking away and exercising their BATNA leads to a better outcome. This lesson, while perhaps unexpected in a class on resolving disputes, is a memorable one that seems to resonate deeply with many participants. Mary, from Reach Up, reflected at the end of the course, “The BATNA concept is very useful so you can know to cover all your bases and weigh the pros and cons of a situation.” Knowing one’s BATNA is powerful because it allows a negotiator to make a careful, independent assessment in every situation as to what will lead to the most satisfactory outcome. Understanding the power of BATNA is a crucial part of Negotiation Works’ strategy to empower our participants as confident, competent negotiators.