I’ve got a love-hate relationship with sock knitting.

Although the knitting project is small, therefore easy to carry around and pick up wherever you go or whatever you do, once you finish one sock and still on a high that you’ve done so, there’s a crashing realisation you now need to knit another sock for the other foot.

It’s known as the Second Sock Syndrome.

Think about it.

You invest all your time and energy to choose a pattern, then a yarn, look at all your needles to decide whether you’re going to use double pointed or circulars, you cast on, and fiddle with the awkwardness of initial sock cast on knitting the rib, then when you get to the leg, you’re on a roll. Then the excitement of the heel flap and the gusset before some more mindless knitting until you need to reduce stitches for the toes and then cast off.

By then you would have been on a roller coaster of emotions and feelings watching and feeling your work morph from a tube to an actual sock. You can’t stop putting your hand in it, imagining how soft and warm it would be on your feet.

Maybe you stick your foot through it and see it slowly cover your foot, the needles awkwardly pointing out in all directions reminiscent of bunion surgery on your foot. ?

Second sock syndrome is actually a thing.

When you’ve invested all your heart and soul into one sock and see it finished there’s a little part of you that thinks, “oh crap, I have to do this all over again!”

It strikes me that there are projects that we do at work that are struck by the same thing. You put your time and mental energy into the one big project, you finish it and achieve everything you set out to do, you’re proud of it….until someone asks, “can you just do that thing again?”

Groan.

When I think of my role as a Community Manager, I think that sometimes I get Second Sock Syndrome with it.

Building a community takes time. In effect, you’re waiting for the penny to drop on all the people in the company. It’s not something that can happen overnight.

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Much of your investment is all about doing the background work, trying to influence, building, presenting and even cajoling at times. You’re constantly looking at ways to help people see its value hoping that something, anything would make the clouds lift and the all encompassing light of knowledge come in for them to realise, “Hey, this is helping me with my <insert words: career; networks; personal and professional development; relationships; KPIs; connections; projects; time; money>.

Once you see a bit of traction, you’re inspired again and you get to the point where the community just continues of its own accord.

That’s the only time the community manager can then sit back a little bit and finally, be an observer for a little while.

You can let the community run of its own accord, smug in the knowledge that you helped create something that people like, they find useful, valuable for them and the business, and that they appreciate.

Leaders, managers and team members are TALKING, CONNECTING, SHARING THEIR WORK, SHARING THEIR STORIES, SHARING WHAT THEY LEARNED AND WHO THEY SPOKE WITH, SHARING EXPERIENCES!

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Then in comes someone who then sees what you’ve done and wants you to repeat everything you did (because they see the “sock” and not the turmoil that went into creating it), and asks you to create the same thing….again.

This is the reason why I’ve been turning down some people and companies in recent times who have approached me to go and work for them to build their communities for their companies.

It’s not that I don’t want what they’re offering, nor is it the great pay or the conditions they’re offering me – enticing as they are (thank you!) – it’s the level of mental and physical investment in having to do everything all over again – the same thing – but somewhere else!

All over again! Argh! ?

Being a community manager takes your heart and soul. You have to believe in it because sometimes it feels like you’re the only one.

It’s the reason why the role of community manager is not a quick fix.

It’s not a role you can determinedly say that the community will be built in 3 months and that’s it.

It’s a hard slog and you need a long time to build and see it’s value because RELATIONSHIPS TAKE TIME, BUILDING NETWORKS TAKE TIME.

Sure, you can build it in three months but how sustainable is it? It’s likely to die off the moment the community manager leaves.

A successful community is driven by the organisational culture and by its leadership support and sponsorship.

Leadership themselves also need to participate, role model and encourage and even expect, contribution of their people into those same communities without fear or retribution. A community manager will need to spend the bulk of their time to explain, show, guide and coach especially to those who don’t understand it’s value. It’s that which takes time, your heart and soul.

Doing it a again and again means that you have to double down and go harder each time to overcome the “second sock syndrome” and that’s a question I’ve faced myself: Do I have the heart and energy to keep doing this or do I invest my time and effort in making the perfect sock?