I am an engineering manager, formerly a dev, so I know what you mean. I have a rule that I'm the gatekeeper to my group's time. My people know that if someone

I am an engineering manager, formerly a dev, so I know what you mean. I have a rule that I'm the gatekeeper to my group's time. My people know that if someone tries to contact them directly (unless as part of an ongoing project/conversation), they're to direct that person to me, where I can set expectations appropriately. It doesn't happen much anymore. I see part of my role as a liaison between my group and the rest of the company. My people don't fight fires, there's a team for that. I'm sorry that you don't feel like your issue gets the attention it deserves over there. Those guys are swamped. Pinging my team directly is not the appropriate resolution. Usually, what happens is someone from some other group (sales, support, services) will come to me to ask a question. If I don't directly know the answer, I'll throw the question in a Slack channel. My ask of my team is that they check that before they head out to lunch, head home, etc., because it's usually a 5-minute investigation.