Teams, toddlers and cabinets: The joys of working from home

Many now are working and studying from home to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, one that’s testing how productive people can be in a pandemic. It's also challenging the capacity of the internet, home WiFi systems and video-chat services amid unprecedented demand. — AP

In the early days of working from home to prevent spread of the Covid-19 disease, some Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers talking strategy on a video chat couldn’t help but get distracted by their team leader’s kitchen cabinets.

“There was absolutely nothing special about them except for the fact that they were in the private home of someone senior to us,” said researcher Kate Darling, who started gossiping about the cabinetry in an online back channel.