how to effectively manage construction projects with a large workforce

Many construction projects require a large staff compliment and a big workforce. The contractor's project manager or site manager cannot do this alone. To be successful it's important to:
1.Select the right team for the project. Some good people are just not suited to working in a large team.
2. Delegate effectively. This means ensuring that the person delegated the task understands what needs to be done, has the knowledge to do it, and completes the task.
3. People must know their duties, who they report to, who reports to them, what their limits of authority are and what problems they are expected to solve and what they should refer to their managers. (A project organisation chart can be useful.)
4. Understand the strengths and the weaknesses of the team and work with these.
5. Understand the individual cultural differences.
6. Discipline must be applied in a fair and uniform manner from the start of the project so that everyone is clear what the boundaries are.
7. Guard against employing too many people. Continually reassess the team and make changes to suit the new circumstances.
8. People must be accountable and there should be no place to hide. On large projects it's easy for people to 'get lost' or shirk responsibility. Sometimes this isn't the person's fault but rather that they aren't being effectively used.
9. Ensure everyone works as a team. It's easy for a few weak links or trouble makers to disrupt the team and for others to become demotivated.
10. Keep communicating (and I don't mean by having long meetings). People need to be updated on the project progress and what goals have been achieved, and understand what the next targets are and what has changed on the project.