Effectiveness of Digital Platforms in Project Communication Management

This research article investigates the effectiveness of remote communication tools, specifically Zoom and WhatsApp, as alternatives to face-to-face (F2F) sessions in project communication management during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study highlights the shift from traditional F2F communication to virtual platforms due to social distancing measures, prompting organizations to adopt digital tools that had previously been underutilized. An experiment involving 269 participants was conducted, where they performed project-oriented tasks in four different environments: individual work, F2F group meetings, Zoom, and WhatsApp. The findings indicate that while F2F meetings are more effective than individual work, neither Zoom nor WhatsApp provided the expected advantages in terms of task performance or synergy among team members. This raises questions about the future role of these digital platforms in project management and whether they should be retained, discarded, or improved upon in the post-pandemic context.