By Beth DeCarbo and Nancy Keates | Wall Street Journal
Want to look professional in the age of coronavirus? Tops and bottoms are required.
With millions of Americans now working from home, the formalities of the office have slipped a little. Pat Brown, the CEO of $4 billion startup Impossible Foods, recently conducted a video call from his son’s bedroom while wearing a hoodie and T-shirt.
Participants on video meetings report getting distracted by what’s behind the person speaking. “Is that a bottle of nose spray on the shelf?” Adam Meshberg, the founder and principal of Brooklyn-based architecture and design firm Meshberg Group, asked himself recently while peering to see what was behind a caller on a virtual meeting. He advises clients to remember they are inviting people into their homes they never would otherwise and should thus curate by eliminating anything too personal. While a completely blank white wall would look strange, so would family photos or a painting of a nude, he says.
