In longer or extended negotiations, it is not uncommon for parties to find deadlocks, stalemates, and deadlocks with the opposing side. This is especially true in certain passionate, heated, or emotional negotiations. It can be easy to confuse a dead end with a deadlock, and some people even use the terms interchangeably. So I think it’s good to have a working definition of all three to recognize the differences when labeling such an event during a negotiation. I think Roger Dawson did a good job defining the concepts in the 15th Anniversary Edition of “Secrets of Bargaining Power: Inside Secrets of a Master Negotiator.” This is how this updated text for the 21st century defines these concepts:

Impasse: You are in complete disagreement on an issue and threaten negotiations.

Deadlock: Both parties are still talking, but seem unable to move toward a solution.

Deadlock: The lack of progress has frustrated both parties so much that they no longer see the point of talking to each other.

The importance of understanding the differences, especially between deadlock and deadlock, is that deadlocks are very rare, and chances are that when you get into a sticky situation where you seem to be stuck, you’ll find that it’s just a dead end and with a little creativity and good negotiation skills, you can break the deadlock and move towards your agreement or resolution.

The key, looking at Dawson’s definitions, is that a dead end is total disagreement on an issue that threatens the negotiation. Most, if not all, negotiations involve more than one issue, and with complex negotiations you will find issues within issues and multiple levels of issues throughout the deal. It’s easy to get stuck on a single issue and get so frustrated that you think you’re stuck and then give up on the whole negotiation. You must recognize that there are other problems, or if not, create them. Negotiations with a single issue are easier to see with a winner and a loser, with multiple issues it is much easier to reach win-win agreements that leave both parties more satisfied.

Stagnant is a bit different. The parties are not yet ready to call it quits, but negotiations are going in circles with no one making any progress toward cementing a deal, finding a solution, or resolving the problem. For deadlocks, effective negotiators have strategies to help get negotiations moving again. At an impasse, both sides are still trying to find a solution. However, neither of them sees a way to move on. The fear of deadlocks is the frustrations they can cause, leading parties to believe that they are at a dead end or, worse still, deadlocked.

Once you’ve defined these terms, it’s easier to recognize what’s going on during a negotiation. You can then use strategies and tactics to overcome these obstacles and achieve successful agreements. First understand the problem, then work to both solve and solve it.