Thanks for sharing Medium’s approach! I quite like to hear how my employer’s policy compares to others. We’re broadly similar, the only key difference for me is I require two engineers to approve my code changes.

One point I’d like add here, which is a lesson I wish I learned earlier in my career: if the review’s urgent, and “PTAL” or equivalent fails for you, feel comfortable approaching an engineer in-person.

In many ways, I find the in-person approach much better. You can offer to pair with your colleague and guide them through the code changes, explaining your reasoning as you go along. Much better than a conversation over GitHub, or Bitbucket, or wherever you manage your reviews.

There’s a balance to be struck though — if we do it too often, we end up distracting them from their own work. I only approach them if I urgently need a review, or I find a thread (more than two comments) starts growing in the review — suggesting some changes are unclear or need attention.