Platform-mediated organizational communication Microsoft Teams as socio-technical infrastructure in a Kenyan NGO

Digital collaboration platforms increasingly structure organisational communication and coordination, yet their implications in Global South non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remain underexplored. This study examines Microsoft Teams as a socio-technical communication infrastructure in a large health-focused NGO in Kenya. Guided by Media Richness Theory and platformization scholarship, the study used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design: a survey of 49 departmental staff assessed Teams use, communication clarity, collaboration effectiveness, training, and platform-related difficulties, followed by 16 semi-structured interviews to explain survey patterns in everyday project work. Teams was embedded in routine project communication and supported multimodal interaction, persistent records, task coordination, and shared document work. Communication clarity and collaboration effectiveness were positively associated, while limited formal training was associated with less favourable perceptions and more reported difficulties. Interview accounts showed that staff achieved communicative benefits by combining chat, channels, calls, and shared files according to task needs. However, unclear governance, notification overload, uneven digital literacy, and intermittent connectivity constrained participation and increased communicative burden for some staff. Teams' value therefore depended not on technical features alone but on the interaction of platform affordances, user practices, governance arrangements, and infrastructural conditions. The findings refine understanding of media richness in platformised NGO settings and support role-sensitive training and clearer internal communication governance.