Challenges of Virtual Project Management in Nigerian Commercial Banks During the Post-COVID-19 Era

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of virtual project management practices across Nigerian industries, and commercial banks were among the first sectors to adapt. This study examines the challenges of virtual project management in Nigerian commercial banks in the post-COVID-19 era. A cross-sectional survey will recruit 200 project managers, IT leads, and remote team members from ten commercial banks with significant virtual project portfolios, including Zenith Bank, Access Bank, and First Bank. A structured questionnaire will assess challenges across communication, collaboration, technology infrastructure, performance monitoring, and team motivation in virtual project environments. The Virtual Project Management Challenges Scale (VPMCS) will be used alongside sociodemographic variables. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation will examine relationships between challenge dimensions and virtual project performance. Post-pandemic literature from Nigerian banking highlights continued reliance on hybrid work models alongside persistent digital collaboration barriers such as bandwidth limitations and time zone misalignments for international project teams. Findings will inform digital workplace policy for Nigerian bank PMOs. Keywords: virtual project management, commercial banks, COVID-19, remote work, digital collaboration