Track review health as flow
Track review health as flow
Review health is a flow question, not a morality question.
The useful question is not "are people doing enough reviews?" It is "where is work stuck?"
Useful signals
- how long PRs sit waiting for first review
- how long PRs sit waiting for re-review
- how many rounds a typical PR needs
- how often blockers need a synchronous conversation
- how much work is stuck to the right of implementation
These metrics point to queues, not villains.
Why this framing matters
When review health becomes a moral conversation, people optimise for visible review activity: approval counts, comment counts, being seen to respond.
When review health is a flow conversation, the team asks better questions:
- Are we starting too much work?
- Are PRs too large?
- Are reviewers overloaded?
- Are comments unclear?
- Are blockers waiting too long for re-review?
That makes review a system to improve, not a guilt ritual.