I remember going to my Dad's office when I was a little girl. It was medium-sized room, with a window, a large chalkboard (and later, a dry erase board), a big desk in the center and a credenza.

Today's office has changed. It's morphed into open work spaces, standing work stations, modern coffee bars, "quiet" rooms and workout facilities. Or, to take it one step further, today's office could be any place that has secure wi-fi.

Just as our physical workspace has changed, so has our need to develop skills to manage this future work environment. Yesterday, Promotional Consultant Today shared three key skills to navigate the future; today we share three more from futurist Thomas Frey.

1. Reputation Management. By 2020, one study estimates that more than 40 percent of the American workforce, or 60 million people, will be independent workers-freelancers, contractors and temporary employees, and most will rely on social networks like LinkedIn to help keep their pipelines of work full.

In his latest book, The Start-Up of You, LinkedIn Founder and Chairman Reid Hoffman explains how we would all be better served if we managed our lives as if they were a business. He says our personal brand, as represented through our online reputation, is critical to our success.

With highly personal online content being generated about us from many different sources, it is now up to us to exercise control over what people are saying, the images of us that appear online, videos we're in, bylines of our work, and virtually every other indicator of who we are and what we stand for.

If you don't think your online reputation is important, consider the following stats:

  • 88 percent of those who are online will avoid doing business with companies that don't protect their privacy.

  • 80 percent of divorce lawyers use Facebook to find evidence.

  • 65 percent of recruiters frown on job seekers who frequently use profanity in social media.

  • 68 percent of hiring managers have made a decision to hire a candidate because of something they saw on social media.

Clearly, understanding how to use social media to one's advantage is another critical skill that is yet to be taught in schools, although some business programs are beginning to teach students how to set up LinkedIn profiles.

2. Privacy Management. Privacy and transparency live on opposite ends of the same social spectrum, but they're both part of the huge ethical issue that falls under the banner of privacy.

Drone privacy is different from social media privacy, which is different from online retailer privacy, Internet of Things privacy, big data privacy, email privacy and snooping-around-in-my-business privacy.

People can often derive significant benefits from sharing their personal details as they take advantage of relevant and useful services online. However, once collected, businesses often exploit and monetize personal information, leaving people exposed and placing their information in predatory danger.

The free flow of personal information that respects privacy can also fuel innovation in the future. The big challenge ahead will be to establish legal frameworks that foster innovation and facilitate information sharing in global business environments.

Understanding both sides of this equation will be a critical skill for future generations.

3. Technology Management. The very first Apple iPhone entered the world in 2007. Since then, new tools have been appearing on a daily basis.

What should we be paying attention to, and what can we dismiss?

With sensors becoming a ubiquitous part of everyday living, we will soon be wearing smart shoes, sleeping on smart pillows and eating smart food with smart spoons while watching our children play with their smart toys.

Our choice of technology defines who we are and our ability to function in an increasingly technology-dependent world. Our relationship with our personal technology will continue to be an ongoing challenge and improving skills in this area will be highly advantageous.

As Frey points out in all of these examples, our present reality is that technology and access to information are making our lives more complicated. Our future success relies on how we best balance this new digital world.

Source: Thomas Frey is the senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute, and Google's top-rated futurist speaker. Unlike most speakers, Frey works closely with his board of visionaries to develop original research studies. This enables him to speak on unusual topics and translate trends into unique business opportunities.