Organise your team without WhatsApp or Excel: a simple kanban method for Algerian SMEs

If your team runs on a WhatsApp group and a shared Excel file, you already know the symptoms: a client request buried under 200 messages, two people doing the same job, nobody sure who was supposed to call the supplier. The fix is not a big software project. It is a habit: every piece of work is a card, every card has one owner and one date, and everyone looks at the same board. That is kanban, and you can start it this week with sticky notes or a free tool.

Disclosure: bizalgeria.com, NEKST DIGITAL and dzcollab share the same owner.

The method in one paragraph

A board with columns. Each task is a card that moves from left to right. Each card has one owner (a person, not “the team”) and one due date. You limit how many cards one person can have “in progress”. Once a week, the team spends 20 minutes on the board, and nothing else.

Step 1: choose five columns

Start with these and change them only after a month:

The “Waiting” column is the one most teams forget, and it is the one that shows where time is lost.

Step 2: write good cards

A card is not “Website”. A card is a verb and a result: “Send the quote to the Oran client”, “Call the carrier about the 3 returned parcels”. Each card carries:

• Owner: one name.
• Due date: a real date, not “ASAP”.
• Checklist if there are several steps.
• Link or file (the quote, the photo, the invoice) instead of “I sent it on WhatsApp”.

A card you can copy for every new task:

[Verb + result] | Owner: [name] | Due: [date] | Client or supplier: [name] | Done when: [what counts as finished]

Step 3: limit work in progress

Agree that nobody has more than three cards in “In progress”. When someone wants to start a fourth, they finish or move one first. It feels strict for a week, then the team notices that things actually get finished.

Step 4: the 20-minute weekly review

Same day, same time. Walk the board from right to left:

1. Done: celebrate quickly, then archive.
2. To check: who approves, by when?
3. Waiting: who chases the client or supplier, and when?
4. In progress: anything late? Why?
5. To do: what enters next week, and who owns it?

Then stop. Daily talk can stay on WhatsApp, but the decision about who does what lives on the board.

Step 5: what to keep out of the group chat

Keep WhatsApp for quick talk. Move to the board: any request from a client, anything with a deadline, anything involving money, and any file you will need again. A simple rule helps: “If it is not on the board, it does not exist.”

Which tool? Options compared

You can do all of the above with sticky notes on a wall. When the team is not in one room, use a tool. Some honest options:

• Paper and sticky notes: free, perfect for one office, invisible to anyone outside it.
• Trello: the classic kanban board, with a free plan on its pricing page.
• Notion: flexible boards plus documents, with a free plan; paid prices are shown in US dollars.
• A shared spreadsheet with a “status” column: better than nothing, but cards do not move and nobody gets notified.
• dzcollab: a kanban workspace aimed at Algerian teams, with an Arabic, French and English interface and prices in dinars. Its pricing page showed, on 29 October 2026, a free Solo plan for one user, Pro at 1 242 DZD a month billed annually (up to 3 members) and Team at 4 917 DZD a month billed annually (up to 20 members). You can try the dzcollab board alone for free before inviting anyone.

Pick the one your least technical colleague will actually open every day. Read the terms and refund policy of any paid tool before you pay, and if you pay for a foreign tool, see paying for software from Algeria in dinars or dollars.

Common mistakes

• Too many columns. Ten columns means nobody knows where a card goes.
• Cards without an owner. “Team” is not an owner.
• No weekly review. Without it, the board goes stale in three weeks.
• Copying everything from WhatsApp. Only tasks go on the board, not conversations.

Where to go next

The same board works for many processes: tracking freelance clients, quotes and invoices, running a COD confirmation team or hiring your first employee. If your team is growing, AE, EURL or SARL explains which legal form fits, and declaring your first employee to CNAS covers the paperwork.