Negotiating Around An Impasse

You did everything right, yet you find yourself at an impasse with the other party. What do you do?

Too many negotiations break down for the wrong reasons. Impasses are not always caused by world shattering issues or great matters of economics. Many breakdowns are the result of simple things like personality differences, fear of loss-of-face, troubles within the organizations, a poor working relationship with the other party, or one party's sheer inability to make a decision.

Any consideration of how to break an impasse must take into account the human factor. It may not be what you do, but how you do it that becomes the critical factor.

Here are several moves useful in averting or breaking an impasse:

1. If the impasse involves money -- offer to change the shape of the money. A larger deposit, a shorter pay period, or a different payment stream works wonders -- even when the total amount of money involved is the same.

2. Change a team member or the team leader.

3. Eliminate some of the uncertainty. This can be cone by postponing some difficult parts of the agreement for renegotiation at a later time when you both have more information.

4. Change the scope of risk sharing. A willingness to share unknown losses or gains may restore a lagging discussion.

5. Change the time scale of performance. Maybe it's OK to complete 60% over four months rather than three months. It might be easier to start slower and still complete the job within the desired timeframe.

6. Assure satisfaction by recommending grievance procedures or guarantees.

7. Move from a competitive posture to a cooperative problem-solving mode. Get engineers involved with engineers, operations people with operations people, and bosses with bosses.

8. Change the type of contract: fixed price, indexed or scaled price, time and materials.

9. Change the base for calculating percentages: a small percentage of a larger base or a larger percentage of a smaller, but more predictable base, may bet things back on track.

10. Create a list of options or alternatives that need to be discussed. Or change the order of discussion.

11. Suggest changes in the specifications or terms.

Impasse breakers work because they re-engage the other party in discussions with his or her organization and team members. These icebreakers help create a climate where new alternatives can be developed and refined. Surprisingly, sometimes the introduction of new alternatives has the effect of making old propositions look better than ever.

Try to pre-plan a face-saving way to reopen discussion should an impasse occur. If you set the stage before the impasse sets in, you can better handle the problem.

Negotiating Pressure

It's a fact: Identifying the pressures on the other side increases your negotiating power and strength.

The current economic climate and ongoing political unrest around the world is creating pressure on many negotiators. Decisions are being delayed. Buyers are being asked to bring costs down. Salespeople are being asked to increase volumes and margins. Engineering and manufacturing professionals are being asked to increase plant efficiencies. Managers everywhere are being asked to do more with less.

Any given negotiator is probably felling pressure from a variety of sources.

Now, more than ever, you must remember that in any negotiation there are pressures and problems on BOTH sides.

Yet, its only human nature, we almost always focus on our own problems and pressures and forget about the other side.

One of the key concepts discussed in the Effective Negotiating seminar is -- "You've got more power than you think." Just the recognition of the pressures on the other party will increase your power and strengthen your negotiating position.

You know your needs -- your pressures. The other party also has needs, which they feel as their pressure. Remember to ask yourself that key question -- "What's on their sheet?" This will help you identify the other party's pressures.

With this information use your negotiation as a tool to help find opportunities for a Both-Win solution--an agreement that takes the pressure off both you and the other side.