Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to understand organisational rhythm as a stimulus for further study into organisational change.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper studies the experiences of the medical discipline colleges in the Netherlands as they underwent significant reorganisation and transfer of ministerial authority. The data set consists of correspondence, reports and tapes of the meetings over 14 months and interviews with 26 employees.

Findings
This research identified five sub-themes of rhythm (emphasis, intonation, pace, period and repetition). Putting these together, the authors present a framework to understand organisational rhythm during organisational change.

Research limitations/implications
This study begins to develop understanding of how rhythms function but the authors did not compare multiple rhythms in this study.

Practical implications
The authors argue that by unpacking and exploring in more detail the sub-themes of rhythm (emphasis, intonation, pace, period and repetition), the authors can help to explain why complex change management initiatives may stall or fail to gain traction. By understanding the concept of rhythm as movement, the authors can offer recommendations to organisations about how to move forward and overcome challenges associated with progress.

Originality/value
In this paper, the authors make an important distinction between rhythm in terms of movement and flow of activity, which has often been overlooked by research, which focusses on the temporal aspects of organisations, which the authors classify as frequency – relating to the sequencing and duration of change.