When solutions are hard to find

Sometimes, even after exploring interests thoroughly, it can be difficult to find solutions that satisfy everyone's needs. Imagine that a company must close one of two offices to avoid bankruptcy. Different parts of the company will have opposing positions about which office they want to close. The underlying interests, such as not wanting to become unemployed, are not easy to reconcile given the constraints of the situation.

But many conflicts that seem impossible at first have better solutions than just meeting in the middle. And even when one can't find a solution that accommodates everyone's interests, using interest-based negotiation still has benefits:

• It reveals compromises that weren't obvious initially
• It improves relationships by demonstrating empathy
• It sets a collaborative tone that makes any necessary compromises easier to accept

Given these benefits, interest-based negotiation is often worth trying first.