Earlier this year I delivered two well received presentations on the topic of Agile leadership roles - where do Project Managers and Scrum Masters fit? Following the presentations we had strong interest from the audience for Equinox IT to host a Community of Practice around the topics of Projects and Agile.

On Thursday last week I presented at the ITx Conference in Wellington on the topic 'How to make sense of your role as a Project Manager or Sponsor on an Agile project'.

One of the problems we hear a lot is "it is difficult to get business involvement in our IT project". While this is a problem for any project it is particularly difficult for Agile projects that rely on a fast cycle feedback loops with the business to prioritise work and ensure the project delivers maximum value to the business. Having insufficient business involvement in an Agile project erodes all four core Agile values - individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration and responding to change.

We regularly receive enquiries at Equinox IT from people who want to move into the IT industry. Sometimes these people ask for our advice on how to get a job as an IT Project Manager or a Scrum Master.

Agile projects can often be like a first dance lesson where everyone is treading on each other's toes. We often are asked at Equinox IT about the roles of Project Manager and Scrum Master for Agile projects. Are they both needed? What are the boundaries? Should they be combined?