Are your hybrid meetings doing more harm than good? New survey finds many of us 'forget' about remote colleagues

Date:
Thu, 11 Jun 2026 19:35:00 +0000

Description:
New study reveals hybrid meetings can isolate remote workers due to outdated technology and meeting fatigue.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Hybrid meetings can leave
remote workers feeling excluded, Jabra study finds Unsuitable and dated
setups cause regular meeting delays and technical failures Better meeting
room kit and clear meeting purposes could improve engagement Around half of remote participants say theyre forgotten, talked over or excluded during hybrid meetings, a new study from Jabra has revealed, indicating that hybrid in-person and remote meetings might not be as effective as wed thought.

The issue is particularly evident when multiple participants are in a
physical room, with others joining online. But more than that, women (16%)
and junior workers (26%) are more likely to feel theyre being excluded. But
it might not be the concept of hybrid thats at fault Jabra argues that dated tech is making it hard for all participants to have equal visibility, and
that poor tech is only amplifying existing cultural issues around visibility instead of creating them. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: Hybrid meetings are the least effective kind That much is evidenced in the fact that hybrid meetings are generally worse off than fully remote meetings, with workers more likely to miss content (59% vs. 41%), feel excluded (55% vs.
38%) or need follow-up meetings to clarify details (42% vs. 28%).

Years after workers were sent home at the height of the pandemic, companies are still failing on their meeting tech. Three in four hybrid meetings experience at least one technical failure, and participants often claim difficulties hearing (73%) or seeing (68%) participants. You may like Why everyday Workplace Tech Frustration is hybrid work's biggest unsolved problem Better office tech is now more important to UK hybrid workers than a supportive manager Take that hybrid working haters survey reveals the true scale of how many of us are actually remote working today

Jabra even argues that these failures add an average of 11 minutes to every hybrid meeting, and losses can rise further for the biggest companies.

This comes as workers spend an average of eight hours per week in meetings (more than that in Denmark, India and the UK). Are you a pro? Subscribe to
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With more than half (58%) of that time generally considered unnecessary, 66% leave without clear action items and 59% demand follow-ups to clarify missed points. Meeting infrastructure and purpose hold the keys to success As for
the fix, many companies have turned to AI to help with things like meeting summaries and live transcriptions, but widespread use remains low. Poor trust and privacy/compliance issues also prevent companies from going all-in on AI.

AI can enhance a well-run meeting, but it cant fix a broken one, Jabra Enterprise Video Business Unit SVP Holger Reisinger said. What to read next Workers are increasingly using unapproved AI tools at work, despite knowing the risks Major study claims white-collar workers are fighting back against
AI in the workplace Why 2026 is the year of flexibility without friction: solving the multi-platform crisis

To fix the issue, the report urges companies to invest in meeting room technologies like microphones, cameras and connectivity to bring remote participants closer to in-person attendees.

At the moment, 37% use a single laptop as a mic and speaker for the room, 31% revert to audio-only after giving up on video, and 23% have even dialed in by phone for audio. A third (34%) also noted that participants join on their own individual devices, rather than using a central meeting room system designed to capture all participants.

Jabra is also one of a growing number of researchers to find that workers
face increased Zoom fatigue (42% of workers hit their energy limit within two hours of back-to-back meetings, 83% within four hours), stressing the need to reframe meetings entirely and only hold calls when its necessary.

That way, workers are more likely to be alert and actively collaborate with all colleagues, hybrid or not. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as
a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/are-your-hybrid-meetings-doing-more-harm-than-go od-new-survey-finds-many-of-us-forget-about-remote-colleagues


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