Episode transcript The transcript is generated automatically by Podscribe, Sonix, Otter and other electronic transcription services.
Hi everyone, this is Ricardo Vargas, and welcome to the 5 Minutes Podcast. And today I want to talk about what we do when a negotiation hits a dead end. And we are seeing this week, uh, what is happening between the tensions and the trades and tariffs between China and the US. And everybody is anxious to see, okay, what will come next? In our case, of course, we are not the decision makers of this deal, but what we can learn as project managers. And we need to remember that as project managers, we often find ourselves in situations where the discussions stop moving forward, and not because the issue that is in place is unsolvable, but because we are just stuck in a loop of arguments and resistance. And in these moments, it's very tempting to either push harder or walk away. But honestly, both strategies often just make things worse, instead of trying to push harder and harder until things just collapse. I would suggest that you should pause and reframe the situation. You need to ask yourself and your counterpart, are we stuck because of what we want or because of how we are talking about it? And why is this so important? It's because of over discussions, arguments, and crises, most of the time, people discuss positions like deadlines, like money, like perceptions. But what really matters are the interests behind those positions, like trust, reputation, or long-term stability.
Many times, when we stick with one specific position, we may put at risk some of the desired long-term stability. And if you feel that you are going in circles, it's very important that you just step away from the details and go back to the broader questions, like, what does success look like for me? And it's super important because what is success for us? For example, when we see the trade agreement without taking any position here. But what is important is that we need to understand what success is for each side. What is the final aim? And with this small shift, change the tone and often open the door to new paths forward. Another way to break the deadlock is to identify the real constraint. Are you facing constraints because you have no authority or because you fear losing face? For example, you don't want to look weak in a negotiation, and then you push, push, push until a moment when there is no way that you can continue because you just broke all the foundations of what you are talking about. Or maybe there is something else that you are not discussing but is hidden in the agenda? If we go back to this US and China example, we can see easily both sides. They face internal political pressures to make concessions to see what the economic benefit is for each side.
But if every side, each side, makes a strict position and does not move, there is a risk that it can reach a point where there is no negotiation anymore. So you just collapse on everything. So what is important is to recognize what is truly blocking the process, instead of just focusing on surface-level arguments. And this is key to finding common ground. If you have tried and it still feels. A kyohei. If you have tried that and still feel stuck, try introducing a new variable. Bring a neutral third party to rescope the deal. Split the negotiation into smaller pieces, because sometimes when you try to attack everything at the same time, it's very hard. But if you can try. Okay, let's negotiate on this. Let's negotiate on that. Let's negotiate on that third point. It will help you move forward. And sometimes resolving 20% of the problem is enough to rebuild trust and generate momentum. One of the critical steps in negotiation is when relationships matter. And most of the time, relationships are everything. It's to rebuild and gain trust. Because if you lose the trust, if one part loses the trust and the faith in the other part, then negotiations become close to impossible to reach an agreement. Another thing is to revisit your partner.
Remember the best alternative to a negotiated agreement. It's okay if everything goes wrong. What can I do? For example, when we see the challenges in the tariffs between us and China, everybody is trying to figure out what this Chinese partner and what is American partner. Okay. Can. For example, these 125 145% tariffs, if they continue, how will it hurt for how long it will hurt and how deeply it will hurt each part until we see, okay, is there room for you to revisit, and who has the strongest partner? There is a becomes much more strong than the other part because it's important. Or. If you have tried. Okay. If you have tried that and still feel stuck, try introducing a new variable. Bring a neutral third party, rescope the deal, and split the negotiation into smaller pieces that can be addressed independently. And what is important? If we can show progress and resolve at least 20% of the problem, this is sometimes enough to rebuild trust and generate momentum. And trust is everything. If you lose trust, then it's become very, very challenging. Also, it's important that you revisit your own partner. Your best alternative to a negotiated agreement. If something goes wrong, what will you do? Because both sides may have forgotten what is really at stake if the deal fails.
Everybody. Now, for example, when we go back to these tariffs. Tariffs, we always think, okay, if there is no deal, what will be the impact on the US economy? On the Chinese economy and how people will reorganize themselves within that, and how we will deliver a project. For example, if you have goods that come from abroad with 145% taxes, it's a lot. But if you can't solve that and bring back momentum, it will be a very important symbolic movement. It's always important that you acknowledge if Ford agrees on shared values and look for areas where both sides can say yes, even if this is a small step. You should ask a simple but powerful question: What would it take for us to move forward today? You will be surprised how often that question unlocks ideas and compromises that were invisible. You would be surprised how often that question unlocks ideas and makes. You will be surprised how often that question unlocks new ideas. And finally, remember that your role as a project manager is not to win the negotiation. It's to facilitate movement, collaboration, and resolution. So the next time you feel stuck, take a breath, reframe the problem, and guide the process. Because motion, not perfection, is what gets projects delivered. Thanks for listening, and see you next week with another 5 Minutes Podcast.
