What to do if my Review Time is high?

Identify which team or repo

As a first step we should understand which team or repo is facing high review times so that we can evaluate if that is expected or not given the business context and focus on them.

You can do this in the Cockpit, by switching to tabular view and sorting on review time column.

Causes for high review time

• Complex Code: If the code submitted for review is overly complex or lacks proper documentation, it can take longer for reviewers to understand and evaluate it.

• Code Smells: Issues like code duplication, lack of modularization, and poor naming conventions can slow down the review process.

• Limited Reviewer Availability: If there are not enough qualified reviewers available, the review queue can become backlogged.

• Inconsistent Review Standards: If the team does not have clear guidelines or standards for code reviews, different reviewers might have varying expectations, leading to longer discussions and revisions.

• Ambiguous Feedback: If reviewers provide vague or unclear feedback, the author might need to go back and forth multiple times to understand and address the issues.

How to reduce review time

After identifying the teams, users, or repositories having high review times, it's essential to take proactive steps to reduce them. Below are some recommended strategies to help improve review time:

• Limit PR Size: Smaller PRs are easier and faster to review. Encourage developers to break down large features or fixes into smaller, manageable pieces.

• Incremental Changes: Adopt a workflow where changes are submitted and reviewed incrementally rather than in large, monolithic chunks.

• Define Review Scope: Clearly define what reviewers should focus on (e.g., logic, performance, security, readability) to prevent them from getting bogged down in less critical issues.

• Feedback Loop: Establish an efficient feedback loop between reviewers and developers to clarify any issues or concerns rapidly, reducing back-and-forth delays.

• Encourage Timely and Quality Reviews: Foster a culture where timely reviews are a priority. Acknowledge and reward team members who consistently contribute to swift and thorough reviews.

• Rotating Reviewers: Rotate reviewers to avoid bottlenecks caused by one person being unavailable.