History

A PhD study by Truus Poels in 2006 discussed the question how organizational change can be recorded and what the meaning of the rhythmics is for people who experience this change process. To show times of rushing and delays, silence and commotion, turbulence and relaxation of Rhythmics (the more encompassing term for rhythmical movement) is worked out in the topics: rhythm an frequency and in the subtopics (parameters): emphasis, intonation, pace, period and repetition.

The main themes are rhythm and frequency. The term rhythm is used for the regularly alternating movement in a change process (concerning informing, consulting, intervening, decision-making, contacts, etcetera), and frequency is the term for the number of times that something takes place or does not take place during a unit of time and therefore is a number that indicates how frequently a phenomenon occurs during a certain timeframe.

To show times of rushing and delays, silence and commotion, turbulence and relaxation oforganizational change can be used to answer the questions: what is the rhythm of change of an organization and what are the consequences thereof for the employees. Information about organizational rhythmic can contribute to successful progress and results of organizational change.

In 2008 the Innovation Platform Rhythmics of Organizational Change (I-RO) was founded to make organizational changes more effective. To reach this aim, there are several organizations working together in the I-RO Platform. The Members of the Platform are top managers within their organizations. Some of the organizations included in this Platform are, for instance, Shell, AerCap, RIVM, ING Lease, TNO, IBM, UWV, Vughterstede, Ordina and KLM. A conference takes place twice a year for the platform members to debate organizational change and organizational rhythmic.