Too many teams overcomplicate their branching strategies

Simplifying Branching Strategies for Teams

Learn why simple branching strategies like GitHub Flow and Release Flow help teams deliver faster, reduce risk, and avoid the pitfalls of complex version control.

Published on 6 February 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/qwciWeifRRf

Too many teams overcomplicate their branching strategies. The best engineering teams focus on flow, not friction.

Branching models should enable fast delivery, not slow it down. The best approach? Keep it simple:

✅ GitHub Flow – Short-lived feature branches, immediate merges to main, and continuous deployment.
✅ Release Flow – If multiple versions must be supported, fixes go into main first, then cherry-picked into a release branch.

No long-lived branches. No unnecessary merges. No reverse integration nightmares.

Teams that eliminate unnecessary complexity move faster, reduce risk, and deliver value consistently. Stop promoting branches. Start shipping.

Also published on: LinkedIn

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