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Build world class teams through PRs using the HELP method

Code Reviews are a wonderful opportunity to build team culture and connect with team members, at a deeper level. Use the HELP method.

Fri Sep 13 2024

Man carrying a boy on his back walk along a pebbly beach with driftwood. Waves in the ocean, with sea cliffs and pine trees along the coastline. An elderly man is walking with a backpack.

Carry your weight and then some, to be world class. In the picture is me carrying my son at Rialto beach in Olympic National Park, Washington. He wanted to walk a tight rope in preferring to be barefoot and not wanting to touch the pebbly ground 😂.

The Version Control Systems (VCS) that I have been using over the years are Github (Microsoft) and Bitbucket (Atlassian). Creating Pull Requests (PRs) to do Code Review has never been easier using the tools from either of these VCS offerings.

Code review is one those things that are most susceptible to procrastination and de-prioritization. This can be such a missed opportunity, if one is not fully aware of the possibilities. Reviewing code daily helps unblock the features and moves the dev team forward. It should be considered a top priority. Setup agile dev process workflows to help enable this.

Use the HELP method

HELP is an acronym for Humor, Energy, Learning and Patience.

This is the place to learn, spend energy, practice patience, express humor and connect with your team.

My recommended PR review process

  1. Use a CICD deployment link for the PR.
  2. Or, pull branch locally to setup and run.
  3. Happy path the features.
  4. Test it out thoroughly.
  5. Look at the diff in the PR.
  6. Read the code.
  7. Walk through the code with a debugger.
  8. Look for console errors.
  9. Keep documenting comments in the PR from steps 3-8.

Humor or levity 😄

There is enough seriousness to go around in this world. Using humor tastefully has several advantages.

Humor is Human.

  • Using self-deprecating humor unites and calms.
  • Reduces anxiety and relieves presssure.
  • It makes you approachable, kind and human.
  • People like humor and respond better to you.
  • Excellent icebreaker to help connect with the person.
  • Solid way to warm-up in the code review.

Practical Tips

  • Share some honest stream-of-consciousness, self-deprecating humor.
  • Use emojis, for sure! 🐐
  • Some witty comments, within reason. Nudge, don’t poke or provoke.

Energy ⚡️

Thank the developer, for they have shared the work load of the team.

Be thankful for the work done.

This is your chance to show your sincerity, inner energy and raw passion for the work that you do.

Show your thoughtfulness, sincerity and energy.

Practical Tips

  • Put in some honest time (timebox/pomodoro), to review the code.
  • Schedule or block around an hour a day to review your team’s PRs.
  • Use phrases like To the best of my knowledge, given my limited time spent in reviewing this.
  • Approach with humility of knowledge.
  • Read every single line.
  • Be genuine in your thoughts and feedback.
  • Provide background, rationale and ask for thoughts.
  • Look for structural integrity.
  • Learn to let go, wherever you can. Let’s not be petty.
  • Share the work load with some code commits. Let’s call it an assist and help where it’s appropriate.

Learning 📖

There is always something new to learn, re-learn and learn with fresh perspectives.

Learning is Forever.

Sharing a relevant quote from one of my favorites.

“There’s a little bit of asshole in every nice guy, and there’s a little bit of genius in every moron.” #RDJ

Practical Tips

  • Channel humility and admit to ignorance.
  • Use phrases like What am I missing?.
  • Keep your eyes peeled and mind open for learning something new.
  • Identify opportunities to set-up standards and automate them (linting, code formatting, conventional commits, pre-commit hooks etc.).
  • Find opportunities to apply a new methodology, pattern, service or function.
  • If you really look for it, there is always something new to learn.

Patience 🧘🏽‍♀️

No one likes to work with an insensitive person, lacking empathy.

No such thing as too much patience.

Unless you are wired chill and bohemian, being patient is a muscle to develop.

Lead with Love.

Practical Tips

  • Start by placing some good faith.
  • Use phrases like Can we give it another go-around? What are your thoughts on this?.
  • Be mindful of your words. Imagine you being the recipient of your own words.
  • Tune into your positive channel.
  • Use the 2-to-1 approach of 2 positive thoughts for every negative thought, to stabilize and balance yourself on the inside.
  • Visualize talking to them face-to-face and then share your thoughts. Your words should feel like talking to a friend sitting next to you.
  • Learn, practice and strive to genuinely care for this person.
  • Admit genuine review mistakes on the code reviews. Being human and vulnerable can never be understated. It will always work in your favor.

In summary, use a structured method like HELP and the invaluable opportunity of code reviews to turn your good team into one that is truly world class!

It takes 1 code review at a time to get there! 💪🏽 It’s the journey more than the destination, like in most cases. 😀

References

What a Self-Deprecating Sense of Humor Says About Your EQ

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