Workplace Technology Isn't the Problem. Ownership Is.

Chris' new book argues workplace tech failures come down to ownership, not equipment. Discover the DITAM Framework.

Spor Group | Updated 2026

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If you have ever sat in a meeting room watching someone jab at a screen that will not connect, you already understand the problem Chris Gore is writing about. His new book, Work Isn't Working, makes a simple but uncomfortable claim: most workplace technology does not fail because of bad kit. It fails because nobody was ever properly put in charge of keeping it working. The story was first covered by ITBrief UK, and it is worth unpacking for anyone who manages offices, IT, or facilities.

Why This Book Matters

Chris Gore is the Co-Founder of SPOR Group and spent nearly two decades moving between military leadership and commercial technology. That combination shows up throughout the book. He is not writing as a salesman trying to shift more hardware. He is writing as someone who has watched organisations spend serious money on meeting room systems and collaboration tools, only to see staff lose confidence in them within months.

SPOR Group currently supports more than 1,500 meeting rooms across the UK and Europe, so this is not a theoretical argument. It comes from direct experience of what happens when workplace technology is left to run itself.

The Real Argument: It's an Ownership Problem, Not a Workplace Technology Problem

Gore's central point is that businesses treat technology rollouts as a finish line rather than a starting point. Screens go up, systems get signed off, and everyone moves on to the next project. Nobody owns what happens next.

As Gore puts it: "Organisations don't have a technology problem; they have an ownership problem. Too often, systems are installed, projects are signed off, and everyone moves on, with no clear responsibility for long-term performance. When technology stops working, productivity suffers, support costs rise, and employees lose trust."

This will sound familiar to anyone who manages a hybrid office. Companies rushed to install video conferencing and room booking systems during the shift to hybrid working, then discovered that keeping dozens or hundreds of rooms running consistently is a much bigger job than the original installation ever was.

The DITAM Framework

To fix that gap, Gore proposes a structure he calls DITAM: Design, Integrate, Train, Asset Manage, and Monitor. It is meant as a working model for businesses that want their technology to actually perform once the installers have left, rather than a one-off checklist.

Here is what each stage actually means in practice:

• Design: build the system around how staff actually use rooms, not around a spec sheet.

• Integrate: check new tools work with what you already have before go-live, not after.

• Train: give staff enough confidence in the system that they stop avoiding it.

• Asset Manage: keep a clear record of what you own, where it is, and when it needs attention.

• Monitor: track performance so faults are caught before staff have to report them.

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Why This Matters Beyond One Book

The timing of this argument is not an accident. Many businesses are now being asked to justify what they spent on hybrid working technology, and the honest answer for a lot of them is that spending does not always match reliability. Screens, room systems, and connectivity have all had big budgets thrown at them, but IT directors and facilities managers are still fielding the same complaints about dropped calls, dead screens, and rooms nobody trusts.

Gore frames this as a cross-functional issue rather than something that belongs to one department. Technology, facilities, and operations teams all have a stake in whether a meeting room actually works when someone walks in and presses start.

What You Can Actually Do About It

If any of this sounds like your organisation, the fix does not have to start with a new procurement round. Some practical action steps: 

• Name an owner. Every meeting room system needs one person or team accountable for its day-to-day performance, not just its installation.

• Audit before you buy. Find out which rooms are actually failing and why before adding more technology on top.

• Build in monitoring from the start. Problems caught early cost far less than problems reported by frustrated staff.

• Separate installation from support. The team that fits the kit is rarely the right team to maintain it long term.

• Put numbers on it. Work out what unreliable rooms are actually costing you in lost time and support tickets before you decide what to fix first.

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For more on keeping meeting room technology reliable long after installation, our SPOR Learning Centre covers everything from AV maintenance planning to managing large room estates across multiple sites.

The Bottom Line

Gore's book will not be comfortable reading for anyone who has signed off a big meeting room rollout and assumed the job was done. But that discomfort is the point. Work Isn't Working argues that the businesses getting real value from their workplace technology are the ones who treat go-live as day one of ownership, not the end of the project.

Whether you agree with everything in DITAM or not, the underlying question is fair. If your meeting rooms are unreliable, is that really a technology problem, or is it because nobody was ever clearly told it was their job to keep them working?