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Embed feedback loop for trainee maintainers in MRs

Fabio Pitino requested to merge fp-trainee-feedback-in-mrs into master

Why is this change being made?

💡 Provide a detailed answer to the question on why this change is being proposed, in accordance with our value of Transparency.

This MR proposes a small change in the review process for trainee maintainers, in order to improve the feedback loop. Many trainee maintainers have complained the lack of feedback on their reviews. Often when a merge request is sent to the maintainer, the maintaienr reviews the code and provides feedback directly to the author. Unless a critical problem is discovered during the maintainer review, reviewers tend not to be involved.

In a Slack thread (internal link) I've proposed this change in the process where the trainee maintainers explicitly seeks for feedback from the maintainer upon approving the merge request and submitting a summary of their review.

The advantages of this change are:

  • The maintainer is now aware that the reviewer is interested in getting feedback. Not all reviewers are interested in the feedback and not all the MRs need it.
  • It’s low friction because the maintainer is in the mental context of the review.
  • The trainee gets feedback from any maintainer. Everyone can contribute.
  • Is actionable, as the maintainer must resolve the thread

Author and Reviewer Checklist

Please verify the check list and ensure to tick them off before the MR is merged.

  • Provided a concise title for this Merge Request (MR)
  • Added a description to this MR explaining the reasons for the proposed change, per say why, not just what
    • Copy/paste the Slack conversation to document it for later, or upload screenshots. Verify that no confidential data is added, and the content is SAFE
  • Assign reviewers for this MR to the correct Directly Responsible Individual/s (DRI)
    • If the DRI for the page/s being updated isn’t immediately clear, then assign it to one of the people listed in the Maintained by section on the page being edited
    • If your manager does not have merge rights, please ask someone to merge it AFTER it has been approved by your manager in #mr-buddies
    • The when to get approval handbook section explains the workflow in more detail
  • For transparency, share this MR with the audience that will be impacted.
    • Team: For changes that affect your direct team, share in your group Slack channel
    • Department: If the update affects your department, share the MR in your department Slack channel
    • Company: If the update affects all (or the majority of) GitLab team members, post an update in #whats-happening-at-gitlab linking to this MR

Edited by Fabio Pitino

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