I am part of a team of 5 software development engineers in a large multinational company.
Last week there was a screw up. A customer escalation came in on Monday, my manager was specifically tagged in it. He didn't answer. He was asked for an update on Thursday. I haven't seen an answer to that either. On Friday, a director and a VP, in the chain of command of my manager, were roped in to the conversation. Still no answer from my manager. He logged off for the weekend and another team, from a different time zone, that reports to the same director was called in on Friday night to deal with the situation.
On Saturday night I get an email from the director to whom my manager reports asking me to evaluate my manager. I see this on Monday, check with my teammates, and sure enough we have all received the same email. The is no mention of the incident from the previous week. The questions sound typically corporate, leadership, ability to deliver on objectives, strengths and weaknesses.
The problem is that, in my opinion, my manager is the personification of incompetence. I cannot, in good faith, give him a good evaluation, and I have no interest in lying. On the other hand, I cannot give him a bad evaluation either, because to me that's like going over my manager's head to snitch on him to his boss. I cannot ignore the questionnaire that the director sent me either.
I've been given a deadline to submit the response by.
Surely this is not normal behaviour by the director? If I were to speculate, I would say that the VP has put pressure on him to produce a scapegoat and now he is looking for us to produce ammunition for him.
I've never been in this situation before. I don't know what to do. I feel like I have no options at all.
What options do you think I have?
Thank you for your help in dealing with this situation 😊
