How Negotiators Can Use The United Nations To Fix Deadlocks

Some deadlocks can only be solved by having the United Nations step in…
Some deadlocks can only be solved by having the United Nations step in…
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Let’s face it: in any negotiation, a deadlock can occur. We’d like to think that we are skillful enough as negotiators that we could prevent it; however, the reality is that any negotiation can grind to a halt. When this happens, maybe it’s time for you to call in the United Nations in order to get things started back up…

When You Should Call In The United Nations

The reasons that your negotiation may have reached a deadlock can be varied. It may be a single issue that has caused both sides of the table to throw their hands up into the air. Or, it could be a whole collection of issues that nobody seems to know how to make any forward progress on.

How you got there really doesn’t matter, it’s just the fact that nobody seems to know how to make any forward progress in the negotiation that is the critical issue. If you can’t find a way to break the deadlock, then everyone is going to have to walk away from the negotiations.

Before you throw in the towel and say that the negotiations are over, consider calling in the United Nations. Now, I’m not really suggesting that you place a call to New York and you request the assistance of the real United Nations. Instead, I’m going to suggest that you reach out and see if you can get your own United Nations to step in and help you out.

What The United Nations Can Do For Your Negotiation

What does your local United Nations look like? It can consist of many different people and organizations. Basically what we are talking about here is anyone who is not directly involved in the negotiations but who will benefit from both sides of the table finding a way to reach an agreement.

This means that your United Nations team may consist of members of the local government, associated politicians, impacted unions, and maybe even bankers. What we’re really talking about here is anyone who has a stake in the outcome of the negotiations and who also has some pull with one or both sides of the table.

Using the coalition of interested parties can move the stalled negotiations up to a whole new level. At this level, both sides of the table can be made to see the world in which an agreement has been reached through the eyes of your United Nations team. Being able to look beyond the current negotiations may be what it takes in order to both sides of the table to find ways to bend in order to once again restart the negotiations.

What All Of This Means For You

Having a negotiation that comes to a standstill because the discussions have become deadlocked is an all too familiar occurrence in many negotiations. It can be all too easy to give up when this happens. However, smart negotiators know that this might be a great time to bring in the United Nations.

Your own personal United Nations may consist of representatives from many different organizations. These can consist of political organizations, unions, and even bankers. They can help both sides of the table to envision a future in which a deal has been reached. By doing this, they can cause both sides of the table to find a way to bend and therefore restart the negotiations.

It’s never easy to reach out when your negotiation has run into a wall. However, by having the courage to bring in your own personal United Nations, you just might have found a way to solve your next deadlocked negotiation.

– Dr. Jim Anderson
Blue Elephant Consulting –
Your Source For Real World Negotiating Skills™

Question For You: How big do you thing that your personal United Nations team should be?

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What We’ll Be Talking About Next Time

One of the reasons that negotiations can end up in a deadlock is because what we are discussing becomes too small. There are only a few issues on the table and we just can’t agree on them. As a sales negotiator, what you need to do when this happens is to make the negotiations bigger!