Why Your GitHub Pull Requests Are Taking Forever?

Slow pull requests can significantly hinder software development progress, leading to merge conflicts and reduced team productivity. Factors contributing to slow PRs include large PR sizes, increased risks associated with bigger PRs, long-running PR times, lack of reviewer availability, inadequate prioritization of code reviews, company culture and communication barriers, time zone differences in distributed teams, complex review processes or tools, and unclear code ownership. To improve the pull request workflow, developers can write smaller PRs, provide contextual details, implement stacking, foster real-time teamwork, automate workflows, establish clear code ownership and responsibilities, prioritize code reviews, simplify and standardize the review process, address time zone differences, implement continuous feedback loops, provide training and mentorship, leverage metrics to uncover bottlenecks, utilize code review automation tools, encourage open communication and psychological safety, optimize for time zone differences with flexible work policies, and use tools like Axolo.