One of the key skills for a marketing manager or indeed anyone with management responsibilities is managing the expectations of your staff. This isn?t easy at the best of times, but can be doubly difficult in economically challenging times as people fear whether they will have a job at all in six months time.

There is a stark contrast between the banking industry, where we hear reports of large bonuses so that banks can retain their best staff, and the construction industry, where businesses are battling hard in the hope they don?t need to make redundancies. Marketing managers in the construction industry will need to be strong characters over the next 12 to 18 months as they not only keep clients happy, but also their team members.

However, management roles can ultimately be very satisfying if you happen to excel at your job and motivate your team to do a good job. Seeing a member of staff learning and progressing under your guidance is a fantastic feeling. The trick is to keep them happy and ensure they don?t get poached by a rival firm.

In many ways one of the best skills a manager should have is communication, which is something everyone in marketing should be very good at. Managing the expectations of your manager, your team and your clients requires excellent communication skills as well an ability to prioritise and delegate tasks.

Of course marketing managers have many other responsibilities aside from looking after staff. However, any management role cannot be underestimated in this critical period for the construction industry.