What is BATNA?

Sometimes negotiation doesn't get you exactly what you wanted. What are you going to do if you are not able make a deal?

It's important to determine your variable alternatives in advance. You might have an ideal salary number, and negotiation is about trying to achieve that, but you also need to know what the least is that you'll accept.

You both have a BATNA in a salary negotiation. The employer has a maximum they're willing to pay, and you have a minimum you will accept​. In negotiation you have two key sources of power:

• Being able to walk away
• Knowing the other party's BATNA

So What is a BATNA?

BATNA is stands for Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. To get started thinking about this concept, first check out the clip below, then we'll dig into more specifics.

As you can see, sometimes we don't find out each other's BATNA until negotiations are over, when it's too late.

Using this fun example, let's start thinking about the traits of successful negotiation, then we'll move on to get more information. Please share your thoughts on the question below first!