Used to write those detailed "consider using map() here instead of forEach()" annotations. Felt thorough. Reviewers hated it. Comments got defensive. Nothing shipped faster.

Switched to async pair sessions instead. 15 mins, both devs in a call, we walk through the actual diff together. I ask questions instead of making statements: "what's the strategy here for handling network failures?" vs "add error handling for network failures".

The person learns faster because they explain their thinking. I spot real issues instead of style nitpicks. We actually talk about architecture tradeoffs instead of arguing about naming conventions.

One rule though: I only do this for non-trivial PRs. Obvious stuff like typo fixes or one-liner bug fixes still get written comments. But anything over 200 lines or touching core logic gets 15 minutes of talking.

Cut our avg review turnaround from 2-3 days to same-day. And the reviews actually improve code instead of just adding friction.

Setup: calendar block for "code review hours" Wed/Thu mornings. Slack notification when someone opens a PR. Takes discipline but worth it.