Frequently Asked Questions

Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) is a collaborative negotiation approach where both parties focus on underlying interests rather than fixed positions. Instead of starting with demands and bargaining down, teams identify what truly matters to each side and work together to create options that address everyone's core needs — leading to more durable agreements and a healthier long-term relationship.

IBCB stands for Interest-Based Collective Bargaining. It applies Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) principles specifically to collective bargaining between employers and unions. In K-12 education, IBCB helps school districts and teachers' unions negotiate contracts collaboratively rather than adversarially, focusing on shared interests like student outcomes, working conditions, and fiscal responsibility.

Traditional bargaining is positional — each side anchors high and negotiates toward a compromise, often resulting in tension and win-lose outcomes. IBB shifts the focus to shared interests, objective standards, and creative problem-solving. The result is less adversarial, more transparent, and tends to produce agreements both sides can genuinely support.

The process follows a structured 7-step journey: setting up the workspace, establishing ground rules, identifying interests, moving issues into a shared space, setting objective standards, evaluating options using the Three-Cut Method, and reaching a final agreement. Parley guides both parties through each step with purpose-built tools for every phase.

In K-12 education, collective bargaining is the process by which school districts and education unions (such as teachers' unions or classified staff associations) negotiate employment contracts covering wages, benefits, working conditions, and more. States vary in their collective bargaining laws, but the process typically involves proposals, negotiation sessions, tentative agreements, and ratification. Parley supports this process using the Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) framework to make negotiations more collaborative and productive.

Parley is a digital platform that gives school districts and unions a structured, shared workspace for the entire IBB process. Both teams can document interests, collaborate on issues, evaluate options against objective standards, and track progress from first meeting to final agreement — all in one secure place.

Sage is Parley's built-in AI assistant. It helps teams generate interest suggestions, draft current situation summaries, surface options they may not have considered, and create talking points. Sage works as a thinking partner for both sides — it doesn't make decisions, it helps your team think more clearly and prepare more thoroughly.

Yes. Parley uses role-based access so each party only sees what they're meant to see. Private workspaces keep your team's internal notes separate from shared content, and you control who has access at every stage. Data is encrypted and stored securely throughout the process.

Absolutely. Parley is built for real-time collaboration. District and union teams can work simultaneously — sharing issues into a joint space, commenting, and tracking progress together. Each side also has private areas for internal work that the other party can't see.

Both. Parley is designed as a joint platform where district and union teams work through the same IBB process together. Each side has role-appropriate access, a private workspace for internal work, and a shared space for collaborative discussion. You can also invite a neutral facilitator to oversee the full process.

Absolutely. Parley is built to make Interest-Based Bargaining accessible to K-12 teams at any experience level. The platform walks both sides through each step of the IBB process, and Sage — our AI assistant — helps generate interests, options, and talking points so your team can prepare effectively even without prior IBB training.

Parley supports three main roles: administrators who set up the workspace and manage access, team members who contribute interests, options, and survey responses, and facilitators who have visibility across both sides to guide the process. Access is scoped to each role so everyone sees exactly what they need.

Not necessarily. Parley's step-by-step structure and Sage's guidance make IBB accessible even for teams new to the process. That said, many teams choose to work with a trained facilitator — especially for their first negotiation. Parley's facilitator role makes it easy to include one when needed.

Reach out through our Contact page. A member of our team will help you get set up, answer your questions, and walk your district or union through the platform so you can decide if Parley is the right fit.

Once you're set up, an administrator configures the workspace and invites your negotiating team. We provide setup guidance and support to get both sides up and running quickly.

Parley is free to use. We're committed to making Interest-Based Bargaining accessible to K-12 districts and unions of all sizes. If Parley has been valuable to your team, we welcome donations to help sustain the platform.