What is the greatest asset of any strong
‘negotiator’? Communicates effectively, emotionally intelligent, agile,
tenacious, focused and many other traits that are the usual suspects. However,
if there is one asset that supersedes any of these, it is the negotiator’s BATNA - Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. The BATNA determines the position from which
one negotiates. The stronger the BATNA of the person, the better would be the
negotiators position and hence better the outcome. That is why, in ‘Getting
to Yes’, one of the most renowned books on Negotiation, the first thing
that the authors recommend any negotiator to know before the negotiation is
his/her ‘BATNA’.
We usually negotiate with this in our
minds, although mostly unconsciously. A child is more willing to give up a toy
when he/she knows that a replacement of a better toy lurks in the horizon. Your
chance of negotiating with your teenager into eating healthier food stands
stronger when you know you can influence a benefit that he/she enjoys. We feel
this ever so often in business when we become very dependent on just one or two
customers; in which case we barely stand any chance to negotiate.
Often the parties in a negotiation need to
decide their alternative in case the negotiation fails. How you feel about the BATNA
will dictate how firm you need to be in negotiations. If you look at your
situation in the absence of a negotiated agreement, and find it almost
unthinkable, you will be pressed to enter negotiations in the hope of getting a
satisfactory agreement. The word “satisfactory” is important here. Is the BATNA
worse than ‘satisfactory’?
There may be times when you do not have a
BATNA. Then, depending on the magnitude of the negotiation, it is important to
‘create’ a BATNA. Moreover, if the BATNA is weak, then it would immensely help
to spend some time and energy in strengthening your BATNA. These steps are part
of ‘preparing’ before entering into any negotiation. So next time you are going
to enter into a negotiation, spend some quality time ‘preparing’ your BATNA.
Otherwise, you would be entering a battle field unarmed!
Ecube Training & Consulting is the leading Negotiation Skills Training company in the GCC.
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