Facebook has delayed its return date for US office workers from October to January next year, citing concerns over the Delta variant and following similar moves by Amazon and Lyft. "Data, not dates, is what drives our approach for returning to the office," a company statement said.

Last week's claims for unemployment benefits totaled 375,000, in line with Dow Jones projections. The figure represents a decline for the third straight week.

Forty-one percent of companies are trying new or voluntary benefits to attract and retain staff, such as accidental death, employee discounts and pet insurance, according to a Gallagher report. The study also revealed that telemedicine use increased 12 points from 2019.

The post-pandemic world of work requires leaders to check their assumptions about what makes a good employee, especially because those beliefs might really be biases toward in-person work, writes Julie Winkle Giulioni. She also offers advice on how to reassess meetings, communication, expectations and community.

Matches morph into knots, boxes, flat paper and exchange tips in a stop-motion video created by Tomohiro Okazaki.

The quote that published on July 29 was attributed to the wrong person. The quote should have been attributed to public works official and urban developer Robert Moses. SmartBrief regrets the error.

“How do you make the coffee? I don’t see any more pods.”

“Addie, can I use your iron?”

“Mom! Where’s the iron? And ironing board?”

“Here’s your ‘nana. Go sit next to Addie.”

“Nana? Nana?”

My house has been invaded. I’ve had family in my home for nearly three weeks and while I’ve enjoyed spending time with everyone, I’m ready to have my life back. I was looking forward to Sunday when the last of the family was scheduled to leave and I was going to be able to reclaim my bedroom.

And then Duckling called. “Mom, Dad Romero tested positive for COVID. Can we move in for 10 days?”

I was on Ray’s Harley at the time. I rubbed my temples, said "yes" to my son, put my helmet back on and told Ray, “I’m gonna need a longer ride.”

Of course I love my family and am fine having them here. But there’s no question that it throws a kink into my household’s routine. And routine -- especially morning routine -- is the backbone of our day, as we see in today’s Leadership & Development story. Getting the day off to the right start sets the tone for productivity, attitude and focus.

Soon enough my house will return to normal. But right now, I’m going to go save my daughter-in-law, who is losing the argument to my grandson over a can of juice.

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