I've worked and interacted with a lot of people working in engineering teams across various contexts, and one of the most common pain points I've encountered is the prolonged wait time for code reviews.

Long delays in code reviews can cause several issues:

• Slower Delivery Pipeline 🐢

When reviews are delayed, the overall progress of the project is hindered, affecting delivery timelines.

• Idle Time and Context Switching 🦥

Developers either move on to new tasks or, worse, sit idle waiting for reviews. When feedback finally arrives, they must context switch, which disrupts their flow and reduces productivity.

Here are steps you can take to improve this process:

• Start Early 🐦

You don’t have to wait until your PR is fully refined to start getting feedback. It’s beneficial to seek input early—either right after the first draft or even during the ideation phase. This approach helps align the team early on and reduces the scope of later revisions.

• Pair Programming / Mob Programming 🤝

Collaborating on a piece of work through pair or mob programming ensures that your team is aligned and solves the problem together. This approach often eliminates the need for a formal code review altogether.

• Treat Pending Code Reviews as Blockers 🚧

Often, it’s not that we’re unwilling to do code reviews; rather, they get deprioritized amidst other daily tasks. Changing this mindset is crucial. Consider code reviews as blockers for your team and aim to address them as soon as possible. Personally, whenever I receive a notification about a code review, I ensure that I tackle it immediately after finishing my current task.

What strategies have helped your team improve code review processes? 💬