Managing Impasses
Negotiations do not always conclude with an agreement. You may encounter an impasse or a deadlock during the process. How should you deal with a deadlock? Should you leave the negotiation table, concluding that the process has failed, or should you encourage yourself and your counterpart to remain at the table and keep the negotiations going?
Dealing with deadlock
Skilled and experienced negotiators expect there to be impasses in the negotiating process. They anticipate deadlocks and develop counteractions to deal with them when they occur. They view an impasse as a natural ingredient in negotiations and do not give up easily in their attempts to reach an agreement.
Impasses usually generate negative emotions and sometimes deep feelings of resentment. Prior to and during the negotiation process, you have to be sensitive to the other party’s concerns, feelings, and, particularly, their self-image. Research has suggested that negotiators have an image to uphold and that negotiations are less likely to be successful when either or both parties are not sensitive enough to each other’s dignity, or “face.” You should always be mindful not to harm the self-image of your counterpart, and never more so than during critical moments of an impasse.
Oiling the wheels
If you are facing an impasse, experts suggest that, in the intensity of the moment, you should first take time out to cool down. This will help to defuse the emotional situation and you can resume the discussion at a later time.
Once you reconvene, start by trying to highlight any existing mutual benefits. Impasses usually occur after some progress has already been made. It can therefore be useful to frame the impasse in the context of what has already been achieved—the gains—and highlight the potential losses to both parties if agreement is not reached.
If you are still deadlocked, you may need to try expanding the pie. If you maintain a zero-sum, fixed-pie mentality toward the negotiation, this will restrain your creativity in negotiating for the best deal. Consider that the purpose of negotiation is not to win an argument, but to find satisfactory solutions that would maximize the benefits for both parties. Take time to generate possible new ideas that could help you reach agreement. Expand the issues you are discussing, but avoid making concessions. In this way, you may be able to overcome the impasse on one critical issue by adding another issue that is attractive to the other party.
Managing deadlock situations
| Fast track | Off track |
|---|---|
| Anticipating potential impasses and planning in advance how to deal with them | Believing that you can just think on your feet if a problem arises |
| Being open-minded and flexible, and finding creative solutions | Thinking that deadlocks always lead to “no deal” |
| Reacting calmly and using your emotional intelligence, because you know that deadlock situations can be resolved | Leaving the negotiating table early because you are deadlocked with the other party |