they see as unnecessary, impractical or forced on them by others. <br /> Consultants and other resource people can be helpful, of course, but use them <br /> to train your own supervisors and field crews in IPM principles and methods <br /> rather than to draft some voluminous (and expensive) report or program manual <br /> that attempts to provide the answer to every weed and pest control problem <br /> that may arise in the community. Such documents are frequently impractical <br /> or incomplete, soon made obsolete by the dynamic nature of landscape environ- <br /> ments and /or technology and seldom effectively used by field crew staff. The <br /> "IPM mentality" can not be "legislated ". Having instilled such a perspective <br /> in staff members through effective training and employee involvement pro- <br /> grams, however, you can not fail to make more rapid progress toward your <br /> goals. <br /> Naturally, some documentation is necessary to provide consistency and direc- <br /> tion to the program, but do not mistake paper volume for progress or assume <br /> that the former necessarily leads to the latter. If anything, it may be pos- <br /> sible to identify an inverse relationship between documentation, mandated <br /> forms, multiple levels of approval, etc. and viable, effective results in <br /> the field. Our successful IPM program is still based on the original seven <br /> guidelines and four - criteria matrix for choosing specific control actions. <br /> More important has been our early and continuing decision to thoroughly <br /> indoctrinate field staff and first -line supervisors and subsequently rely on <br /> their judgement. This, again, is the cost - effective route to real success. <br /> LOW COST INFORMATION AND ASSISTANCE <br /> Another way to achieve effective results while keeping costs low is to avail <br />