On March 8th, the first webinar in a series organized by the MGA network. MIT Professor Lawrence Susskind kicked off. Susskind spoke to 75 Dutch MGA adherents about the fifth principle of the Harvard negotiation method: ‘know your BATNA!’.

BATNA stands for ‘Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement’. In other words, your best alternative to reaching an agreement at the negotiating table. So, it's what you have if you can't reach an agreement with each other during negotiations. It's important to know your own BATNA, and preferably the other party's BATNA as well. But why it's important and how to effectively use that knowledge in a negotiation is often still a question, even for experienced negotiators. Prof. Susskind offered numerous inspiring insights, and we'll share a few of his lessons here:

• During a negotiation, it's better not to be guided by the outcome you dream of. That dream doesn't offer realistic frameworks. A BATNA allows you to compare the value on the table with the value outside the negotiation table. This enables you to better assess when it is, and when it isn't, in your interest to agree.
• Sometimes you're not entirely sure of your BATNA. In that case, you can do the following calculation for yourself: BATNA = potential alternative x probability – the cost to pursue that alternative.
• Sometimes we think that there's a lot of work to be done at the negotiation table, while your BATNA lies outside the negotiation table. If you manage to improve that BATNA, your starting position at the negotiation table will be a lot stronger.
• Ideally, you want to negotiate with someone who also knows their BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) well. This allows you, if the ZOPA (Zone of Possible Agreement; the range within which a deal can be struck) permits, to reach an agreement relatively quickly that is better for both parties than their BATNA. What interventions are there if one party doesn't know their BATNA well or overestimates it?

1. Sometimes the other party has no idea of their own BATNA. You get the other party thinking by, as a thought experiment, outlining some alternatives.
2. Sometimes it is necessary to question the other party's presumed BATNA by discussing the risks of the BATNA, determining the uncertainty factor, and gaining insight into the costs required to achieve the alternative.
3. When engaging an independent mediator, a party can also be assisted with BATNA development, for instance, by having this third party ask coaching questions without stepping into the party's shoes.

• Susskind acknowledged that using BATNA is simpler in bilateral transactional negotiations than in a multi-stakeholder area development process; however, even in area development, you negotiate more strongly when you know what alternatives you have achieved at another negotiation table, and even more strongly when you also know the alternatives of other stakeholders.
• In an MGA negotiation, you try to create as much value as possible for each other. Therefore, try to include everything you can easily give away in the deal!
• Reaching an agreement is not a measure for determining the success of the mediator. If you measure success that way, you create a dynamic that could lead people to an agreement that is less than their BATNA.

Click here to rewatch the entire webinar with Lawrence Susskind.

Other webinars
Monday, May 10th from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM | Self-knowledge as a source of power in negotiations Barbara Oliveira, Master Integral Coach, Founder of the Collaboration Lab and member of the CBI Global network.

Monday, June 7 from 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM | Resolving Land and Energy Conflicts Patrick Field, Managing Director of CBI and Associate Director of the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program.

Hold the website of the MGA network Keep an eye out to see when registration for this opens.

These webinars are made possible by the MGA network, P2, Antea Group, and WesselinkVanZijst.