Hybrid Syndrome: Why Hybrid Working Has Not Delivered on Its Promise

Hybrid Syndrome, why hybrid working has not delivered on its promise and what actually fixes it. Chris Gore in The HR Director, June 2026.

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Press Feature

This blog is based on an article by Chris Gore, Founder and Director of SPOR Group, published in The HR Director Magazine, June 2026.

Read the original article at The HR Director

This article was originally published in The HR Director Magazine in June 2026. It is reproduced here in summary form with commentary from Chris Gore, Founder and Director of SPOR Group.

Hybrid working promised flexibility, better work-life balance and a more thoughtful use of the office. In theory it gave people the best of both worlds. In practice, for most organisations, it has not quite worked out that way.

The reality is that many organisations are still trying to make sense of what hybrid working should actually look like beyond the policy document. The intention is there. The appetite is there. But the day-to-day experience has not caught up. And that gap, between the promise of hybrid and the reality of it, is what this piece is about.

The Friction Nobody Measures

What was meant to feel like a step forward often ends up feeling slightly compromised, caught somewhere between two ways of working rather than benefiting from either. The issue is not that people are in the office or not. The issue is whether the office works when they are. For many organisations the physical workplace has not caught up with the expectations of hybrid work.

Spaces designed for fully in-person teams are now expected to support a blend of in-room and remote participation, without having been properly adapted to do so. The result is an experience that feels compromised for everyone involved. And that does not just affect meetings. It changes how people show up to work altogether.

When the environment is not quite working, people adapt in subtle ways. They keep contributions shorter. They hold back from challenging ideas. They disengage slightly earlier than they would have done before. None of it is deliberate. But it is noticeable over time. What you start to lose is the quality of interaction, the kind that drives better thinking and stronger outcomes. That is where the real cost sits. Not in the technology itself. In what it quietly prevents from happening.

When that happens repeatedly, people start to adapt their behaviour around the limitations of the environment. They default to joining calls from their desks rather than using meeting rooms. They avoid collaborative sessions that feel cumbersome. They hold back from contributing if the setup makes it awkward or unclear when to speak.

None of this is dramatic or immediately visible. But it has a cumulative effect. Energy drops. Engagement dips. The office slowly loses its purpose as a place for meaningful interaction. That is the friction that no one measures.

The Question Most Organisations Are Getting Wrong

A lot of the conversation around hybrid working has focused on policy. But it is not about policy. It is about experience. How many days should people be in? Which roles need to be office-based? Those are valid questions. But they miss something more fundamental. The issue is whether the office works when people are there.

What is often overlooked is how closely this ties to employee experience. Organisations invest heavily in culture, wellbeing and engagement initiatives. But the day-to-day reality of how people work is shaped just as much by the environments they operate in. If the basics do not work smoothly it undermines everything else.

Start from the experience, not the technology

Instead of asking what technology to install, organisations need to start by asking what kind of experience they want to create. What should it feel like to join a meeting, whether you are in the room or dialling in remotely? How easy should it be to collaborate, share ideas or move between different ways of working throughout the day? When you start from that point the decisions around technology and design become much clearer.

Simplicity over complexity

The most effective hybrid workplaces are the ones that focus on simplicity and consistency. They remove points of friction rather than adding layers of functionality. They create environments where people do not have to think about how to make things work. Fixing hybrid is not about chasing the latest technology or overcomplicating the setup. The opposite is usually true.

Consistency builds trust

There might be good video conferencing software in the room. But if the audio is not clear the experience still breaks down. Even in well-designed meeting spaces, if the technology is inconsistent or unreliable people lose trust in using them. Over time those inconsistencies create hesitation and hesitation turns into avoidance. This is exactly what SPORTrack is designed to prevent, proactive monitoring that catches faults before they affect meetings, ensuring rooms work every time someone walks in.

What Actually Fixes Hybrid Syndrome

There is also a leadership element to this that often goes unspoken. Employees take their cues from what they see and experience day to day. If hybrid working feels clunky, inconsistent or frustrating it sends subtle signals about how much it is really being prioritised. On the other hand, when the environment supports people properly it reinforces the idea that their time and contribution are valued. That matters more than many organisations realise.

Remove friction. Do not add to it.

Every additional step between walking into a meeting room and starting a call is a reason not to use the room. One tap. Meeting starts. Camera on. Audio working. That is the standard every room should meet.

Monitor proactively, not reactively

A room that fails three minutes before a meeting is worse than no room at all. SPORTrack monitors every AV device in every room in real time. Issues are flagged before anyone walks in and before any meeting is affected. For most of the organisations SPOR Group works with, moving from reactive to proactive monitoring is where most of the pain is eliminated. Book a demo to see it working on a live estate.

Hybrid working is not going anywhere

If anything, the expectations around it will continue to rise. The organisations that get ahead of this are the ones that treat the physical environment as an active part of the hybrid strategy, not an afterthought. The technology is a tool. The experience is what matters.

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