Abstract
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly dealing with international projects and distributed (sometimes even virtual) teams. Consequently, they are looking for project management (PM) tools which fit their respective needs regarding communication and collaboration. Unfortunately, the majority of the PM software available in the market seems to be oversized for this purpose. Instead most project managers are requesting smart solutions that allow quick implementation without any significant organisational or technical change.
 Within the research project InterComp SME 2.0 we combine theoretical research and real business to develop hands-on solutions for SMEs. This paper describes an effective approach for a â??PM Toolboxâ? that allows finding the right project tool for a specific project need. The toolbox has been developed in due consideration of user stories gained from business practice, a more detailed SME business survey, a theoretical PM meta model and a market of PM tools.
 Since the business survey revealed that the readiness to use and test a â??toolboxâ? is highly dependent on the type of user and his or her technical background, we designed the system based on use cases and user typology. As a result, we suggest a framework of open, freely available, easy-to-install, single and multi purpose PM software tools which can be selected solely on a need basis. With this free platform we want to guide practitioners through the tool jungle with the potential to grow into a lively community.
Highlights
Social Media has become a main part of private life and business
Because of these identified gaps we have developed a project management (PM) toolbox within the research project InterComp Small and Medium Sized Enterprizes (SMEs) 2.0 at the Berlin School of Economics and Law (BSEL)
Because our research brings together two different perspectives, the following chapter presents the results of the precedent surveys of the research project up to the actual point of development of the project management toolbox
Summary
Social Media has become a main part of private life and business. For recruiting processes and marketing activities it’s getting more and more common, to integrate Social Media in the mix of possibilities to reach the target group. In other areas like project management, it is still common practice to use specific and expensive software to manage all tasks, but social media are becoming more popular (Harrin 2012). The people in the project are only able to work on the project together if all have access to the software This is especially important if they work in different units or different companies with different technical equipment and background. In distributed, international teams, the quality of communication and collaboration is a critical factor for the success of the projects. Taking this into account, open source software and social media tools could fill a gap between the oversized software on the one hand and the „I-use-Excel-for-this“-solution on the other hand
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