How do you balance the major release and ad-hoc release

[major li]

Hi team,

In my organization, we have a biweekly Wednesday regular major release window. However, I do see large amount of the stories/changes release outside of the window. It is annoying because our release manager need to stand by. 

How do you balance it? and if you are asked why regular release should be followed as much as possible, what will be your justification? 

Thank you team.

[gracemiller84]

Hi,

To balance this, it’s important to enforce the regular release cadence while allowing exceptions only for critical hotfixes. Encouraging teams to plan and align their work with the biweekly release reduces ad-hoc releases, eases the release manager’s workload, and ensures stability. Following a regular release schedule improves predictability, minimizes production risks, simplifies coordination across teams, and allows proper testing and validation. This disciplined approach ultimately increases overall quality and reduces firefighting efforts.