Why do code reviews take so long on small engineering teams

The slowest code reviews I see are not the big risky changes. It is usually the medium-sized PR that touches five files, has no real context, and expects reviewers to reverse engineer the intent from the diff. On smaller teams, one blocked review can stall half a sprint. I have had better luck when the author writes what changed, what was intentionally left alone, and where they want a second set…