Q: What is the difference between being a project manager a Scrum Master?

Project Managers, in the traditional sense, are tasked with leading projects from a scheduling, budgeting, and resource management perspective. Scrum is about the people, specifically the development team that produces the software.

Scrum masters provide a variety of services and leadership, but the emphasis here (in my opinion) should be on empowering people. It's about the humans who produce the software. If you have unhappy humans, you get bad software.

As a Scrum Master I've also done project management work, mostly the human resources, and less about the budget. On some projects I've been in the interview loop for new personnel; on others, primarily in charge of keeping the task tracking tool (Azure DevOps or Jira) tidy, up-to-date, and manageable.

Personally I like the Scrum Master role because I get the chance to help the team work together effectively. Using the task tracking tool as a communication vehicle means reminding the team members to keep their tasks updated. I do that polite pestering with a smile, with encouragement, and yes, sometimes with a little nagging.

Most of all, I genuinely care about my teammates. And that's what the heart of a Scrum Master is like: you're the one who removes obstacles and solves problems. And you keep those humans happy so they deliver software on time.