These motivational interviewing examples show short manager and employee exchanges from healthcare workplaces, organized by the four OARS skills: open questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries. Each example pairs a common response to avoid with an MI-consistent one. Use them as models for your own words, close to what the employee said.
If you want the theory behind OARS first, read OARS in motivational interviewing. This page is the workplace phrasebook.
Open questions
Open questions invite the employee to tell you what matters, in their own words. At work, the most common mistake is a closed question that guesses the answer.
Starting a check-in
It's fine. Busy.
Is it the new tray counts?
What's been taking up most of your shift lately?
The closed version picks the topic for him. The open one lets him choose.
Asking about a problem
I know the template's been a mess.
Why didn't you flag it sooner?
What's been making the template hard to keep up?
"Why didn't you" asks for a defense. "What's been making it hard" asks for information.
Asking about their goals
I don't want to be rooming patients forever.
Have you thought about the LPN program?
Where would you want to be in a couple of years?
Asking about a change
The new dispensing cabinets are a step backward.
Don't you think they'll be safer?
What are you seeing with them that worries you?
A question that starts with "Don't you think" argues while pretending to ask.
Asking about next steps
I want to get my denials under fifty again.
What would be a first step this week?
Asking about a safety concern
The new count sheet is confusing. Somebody's going to miss a sponge.
Are you saying you haven't been doing the counts right?
Which part of the sheet are people getting tripped up on?
The open version treats the tech as someone reporting a hazard, which is what he's doing.
Affirmations
An affirmation names a specific effort or value. Managers often default to praise ("Great job!"), which is pleasant and forgettable. A specific affirmation tells the employee you saw what they did.
After a hard moment
That man screamed at me for ten minutes about his copay.
You did great! Don't let it get to you.
You kept your voice level and kept explaining his options the whole time. That took patience.
When they're doubting themselves
I'm so slow compared to Denise.
You'll get there. Denise has been here fifteen years.
You double-check every order before you enter it. That's why your entries are clean.
Affirming effort, even without results
I got the reports in on the fifth. Still late, I know.
You cut three days off last month. You've been working at this.
You can affirm the effort and still hold the standard. The deadline is still the third.
Affirming a team
Great job last night, everyone!
Three admissions in the last two hours, and every one of them had a med rec done before shift change. You covered for each other.
Team affirmations work the same way. Name what the team did, so they know what you noticed.
Affirming a value
I stayed to finish teaching the family how to use the nebulizer.
You want families to leave knowing what they're doing.
Affirming a value connects the behavior to who they are, and people tend to repeat what they hear named that way.
Reflections
Reflections are the core MI skill. You say back what you heard, often with a guess at the meaning underneath. They tell the employee you're listening and invite them to say more. At work, the move to avoid is usually a quick fix or a defense.
Simple reflection
A simple reflection stays close to their words.
I've asked for a second centrifuge three times.
Budget's tight this year. I'll see what I can do.
You've asked three times and nothing's happened.
Complex reflection
A complex reflection adds meaning, often the feeling or value under the words.
I'm the only one who knows how to run the old CT, so I get pulled every time.
That's because you're the best at it!
Being the expert has turned into being on call for everyone.
Reflecting a feeling
I found out about the new schedule from a group text.
That was a mistake on our end. It won't happen again.
You felt left out of a decision that changes your week.
The apology may be right, and you can offer it next. Reflect first so they know you understood what stung.
Double-sided reflection
When someone voices both sides, a double-sided reflection holds them together, with their reason for change last.
Documenting in the room slows my sessions down. But I hate staying an hour late to chart.
Charting in the room costs you time with patients, and charting after costs you your evenings.
Reflecting discord
When the tension is with you, reflect that first.
Why does it feel like you're always watching me?
I'm not watching you. I check everyone's numbers.
It feels like I've been singling you out.
The defense argues with her experience. The reflection accepts it as her experience, which lets her tell you what's behind it.
Reflecting change talk
When you hear the employee's own reason for change, reflect that part and let the rest go by.
It's not like I'm ignoring the callbacks. Although Mrs. Abubakar waiting a week wasn't okay.
You don't want patients waiting that long.
For a longer set of reflection examples, see simple vs complex reflections.
Summaries
A summary gathers what you've heard and hands it back so the employee can correct it or build on it. Managers use summaries to close a conversation or change topics. They also help when an employee is spiraling and you need to slow down.
Closing a one-on-one
So the mornings are where it falls apart, mostly because two rooms aren't stocked. You'd like to come in feeling ready, and you think a ten-minute restock at close might do it. Did I miss anything?
Transitioning to planning
You don't love the new denial workflow, and you think it adds steps. You also said the old way meant you were finding problems three weeks late. Where does that leave you?
Slowing things down
Let me make sure I have it. The new hire is struggling, you're covering her work, and you've stopped taking lunch. That's a lot at once. Which piece do you want to start with?
Two moves that sit alongside OARS
Asking permission
Ask before you give advice or raise a topic, even when it's required.
Would it be all right if I shared what's worked at the other clinic?
Stating an expectation
MI at work includes being direct about what isn't negotiable. Say it once, then hand back the how.
It'd be great if folks could maybe try to round a little more on nights.
Hourly rounding is required on this unit, including nights. What would help you keep up with it after midnight?
Putting the examples to use
These exchanges are short on purpose, because real workplace conversations happen in two-minute gaps between other work. Pick one skill and use it in your next one-on-one. If you'd like to try a full conversation, the scenarios let you practice with a simulated employee.
Practice this conversation with Lucia →
The leaders page has more on fitting practice into a manager's week.
Questions people ask
What is an example of motivational interviewing in the workplace?
A manager hears 'I keep getting stuck covering the front desk' and responds with a reflection, 'You're spending your day on someone else's job,' before offering any fix. That keeps the employee talking about what matters to them.
What does OARS stand for?
Open questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries. They're the four core listening skills of motivational interviewing, and each one has a workplace version.
Can I use these examples word for word?
Use them as models. The phrasing that works best is the one closest to what your employee said, in words that sound like you.
How is an affirmation different from praise at work?
Praise is your judgment of the person ('Great job'). An affirmation names a specific effort or value you noticed ('You stayed calm and kept explaining while he was yelling'). Employees usually find affirmations more believable.
Reading it is step one.
The skill shows up when you practice it out loud. Try a five-minute drill or a role-play with someone who isn't ready to change yet.
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