Managing Business Conflicts

Let's say that you're part of an audit team and you're just beginning the brainstorming session with five of your colleagues who are also going to be working on the engagement. You're a senior associate on the audit. In the meeting, you have one audit partner, one audit manager, two senior associates (you and one other), and two new beginner level associates.

As the meeting begins, the audit partner is clearly somewhere else mentally. He's constantly checking his phone and even excuses himself from the meeting to take a call. The audit manager and other senior associate seem to be friends as they just finished another large engagement together. They are clearly moving toward a group domination and groupthink mode as they do not thoroughly examine the key opportunities for fraud on the current engagement. The two new associates have little experience and are simply taking notes.

How should you handle this situation?