Manager told me and my colleagues off for mistakes I know I didn't contribute to

[okkkkkkkkkk]

My colleagues and I work as a group on one task, but different elements of the task. Today we made lots of mistakes including a really severe mistakes. My manager had a go at us and I know they are going to have a meeting about it, that's how severe it was. I'm really worried about it.

I know for a fact I didn't make any of those mistakes but due to the nature of the work there is no proof on who did what mistake and at the end of the day we are a team so all to some extent accountable.

I feel humiliated and really upset. I have never seen my manager that angry before. I don't know what to do. I feel like I have ruined my chances at that job, lost my manager's respect, ruined my chances of having a good reference for future jobs, ruined everything. It took everything in me not to burst into tears.

That's a really odd system where someone could be really awful at their job and not be held accountable or someone could be great at their job and not be rewarded. It also seems strange that there are seemingly no checks and balances to spot these mistakes before they become a big issue, and no electronic records of who has done what for audit purposes.

In the meeting I would focus on
How you can change the system to make sure this doesnt happen again eg everything on this particular part of the project gets double checked and signed off, how you can have some sort of audit trail to pick up mistakes and identify training needs etc etc. If your boss has gone in all guns blazing I don't think anyone will confess and I wouldnt focus on saying it wasnt you, because then everyone will. If you are proactive and open and all discuss together how you can learn from this then I think you will come across ok

Imagine you're an employer. You've decided to hire someone and get a reference from their previous employer saying "someone in this person's team made a mistake and because I, as a manager, am incompetent and don't supervise my team appropriately, I don't know who made that mistake. Therefore, I'm giving bad references to everyone in the team". Would you think "I'm not hiring this person" or "that manager sounds like a nutter"?
You need to chill - your workplace sounds toxic. Your manager should not be shouting - ever. Shouting in the workplace should be reserved for things like "everyone, there's a fire" or "Debra, call an ambulance".

Ruined my chances of a reference! FGS calm down woman! Do you have anxiety?
It's a mistake. Talk about it privately with your manager. State it wasn't you.

If they don't have procedures to see which member of staff did which bit, then they've got bigger issues!

Yabu do not feel bad if it wasn't you. Hold your head high.