I've worked both situations. The "saying in touch" thing you mentioned is a myth as far as I'm concerned. Even in an office things are worked out behind closed doors.
Groups with good communication skills will succeed at communicating no matter what. Groups with bad communication skills will fail at communicating no matter what.
Technology can't fix political problems. However technology can enable additional solutions to political problems.
It's still politics (and policy and actual leadership effort) that must happen to apply the fix, but technology offers tools and tools can be the basis for enabling options that were previously impractical, infeasible, or impossible.
Groups with good communication skills will succeed at communicating no matter what. Groups with bad communication skills will fail at communicating no matter what.