Understanding and breaking deadlock

One problem with deadlock is that the first move to break it may be seen as a weakness by the other party, despite a real desire by both sides to reach a settlement. However there are a range of tactics that can be proposed to avoid this.

The most common causes of deadlock are:

• parties become entrenched
• one party’s bottom line has been exposed too early and is seen by the other as being unreasonable
• emotional blockage – matters of principle, reputations to maintain or even make
• team dynamics - deadlock is more common in team negotiations because the risk is syndicated
• tactical deadlock.

There are several ways to break through in these situations:

• Use deadlock to change from competitive to co-operative mode. Treat the deadlock as a joint problem which can be jointly solved.
• Find a concession that is cheap to make but valuable to receive.
• Take a break, allowing emotions to cool.
• Introduce humour.
• Safeguard your desired solution but offer different scenarios for reaching it. For example, introduce guarantees, alter payment terms, change contract wording. Imagining the situation from the other party’s viewpoint could help to achieve a viable alternative.
• Change the negotiating team either to alleviate emotional baggage or to match the other team’s make-up – engineer with engineer, accountant with accountant etc.
• Break down the problem – deal with smaller issues one by one.
• Introduce a deadline, either during or subsequent to negotiations. This enables both sides to review the case in stages.
• Introduce new information or place a different emphasis or perspective on existing issues.
• Change the risk sharing – a willingness to share in the ‘unknowns’ of a deal can create a feeling of 'partnership'.

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