Unpopular opinion: The team lead should approve all code reviews
Unpopular opinion: The team lead should approve all code reviews.
Without a clear person with skin in the game, code quality tends to atrophy. Why? Code reviews get rubber stamped.
Yes, the team should review too, but the lead is ultimately responsible for maintaining quality.
It’s a matter of incentives. As a dev, you’re incentivized to quickly review code so you can get back to your assigned work.
As a lead, code review and peer programming can be your highest priorities - since you’re on the hook for the team’s code quality.