Which techniques are typically used by international counter parties in Germany to overcome what appears to be an insurmountable obstacle?

If I feel there is a difficult situation, I like to use humour. When you use humour correctly, most people relax, the problem is that humour around the world is often different. If you can create a more relaxed situation, then it is easier to continue negotiations, we are all human beings and we want to be happy people. I was once negotiating for a start-up and we broke off to play table soccer. Afterwards it was much easier to go back to the negotiations and even the hard parts didn’t feel as problematic as they did before the break.