- Change the time shape of performance. Not everything needs to be done now, next month or next year.
- Get the help of someone both sides can trust and respect to mediate the difference. That’s what the Chinese and Japanese do so effectively.
- Alter the risk factors that make it harder for one side or both to say “Yes.”
- Change the scope of work. There is always some room for give and take in the work to be done or the way it is done. Getting into the details serves to enlarge negotiating space and point the way to economies of effort.
- In most negotiations, as the end approaches, the sum of settled issues generally outstrips those that are not. Nobody at the table relishes the idea of walking out after so much has been accomplished. It pays to recapitulate all matters already settled and those still open. The balance usually favors moving on to closure.
- Determine if the gap that separates you can be bridged gradually: a little now, more later and completely next year.
- The best way, by far, to break an impasse is to collaborate with the other person to search for and discover a better arrangement for both sides. Change the mode of negotiating from the conventional competitive mode to one that is collaborative and Both-Win®; that is, coming from an essentially self-centered mode to one that fosters mutual gain.
Tag archive: stalling-in-negotiation
Forestalling a Breakdown in Talks
Let us consider some ways to forestall breakdowns before they harden into long-term bickering or wars. The suggestions that follow will help get stalled talks back on track. They allow a negotiator to rebuild negotiating space for talk without the loss of face or bargaining power for either side.
Read more »
8 reasons the other party is stalling
You and the other party are in the middle of a business negotiation when the other party starts stalling. It seems as though they don’t want to reach a deal at all. Is there a good reason for this?
In fact, many parties stall or use a no-deal-wanted negotiation as a tactic. There are many reasons for them to stall. The top eight reasons the other party is stalling are:
Read more »
- To use it as leverage elsewhere
- To set the stage for deal-wanted negotiations later
- To tie up inventory
- To fish for information
- To delay decisions or actions
- To seek for outside alternatives
- To get third parties involved
- To divert attention
No-deal-wanted negotiations
Back in 1985, the rock group Talking Heads sang “we are on a road to nowhere.” Perhaps they were singing about how they felt about negotiations that don’t seem to get anywhere: no-deal-wanted negotiations.
It is true that parties in a negotiation do not always negotiate to reach agreement. In some cases, these no-deal-wanted negotiations are completely unethical, designed to tie up one of the parties and keep them from achieving legitimate results. For instance, there are buyers who negotiate in order to tie up a seller’s inventory.
However, no-deal-wanted negotiations can be used as a legitimate part of the bargaining process. Some negotiations are conducted exclusively as a stalling tactic, and are not necessarily unethical.
Why would parties enter a negotiation that is going nowhere? Here are a few reasons:
Read more »
- To gain leverage elsewhere
- To set the stage for “real” negotiations later
- To get information
- To delay decisions or actions
- To gain time (to search for alternatives, to get others involved, etc.)
- To show willingness to negotiate even though there is none
- To force an arbitration
- To divert attention
Stalled Negotiation?
Are you stalled?
Just as when your car stalls out, when a negotiation stalls you are delayed or can’t reach your final destination. In effect, stalling is sometimes used as a way to avoid reaching a deal. It is the opposite of a productive business negotiation. Some parties enter a negotiation with the intent of not reaching an agreement. Why?
Parties engage in deliberate stalling for various reasons or to achieve certain objectives that the other party is not privy to. According to Dr. Chester L. Karrass, there are several reasons that may be behind a stalled negotiation. These include:
Read more »
- To divert attention (similar to the smokescreen)
- To tie up production or inventory
- To search for information
- To delay decision-making
- To search for outside alternatives
- To obtain more time
- To cover up ulterior motives