Introduction

For someone who is into learning and knowing more about the professional courses, certifications, or training, know what a scrum master role or a project manager’s role entails, and how these career options have emerged as big-time growing positions across any sector.  Both are dedicated professionals, responsible for mentoring teams and diligently delivering tasks. 

But they might or might not necessarily belong to the same industry. What makes the two roles differ is their set of core responsibilities, whether it is within a startup, a full-fledged company, or any business having multiple operational teams.

What is a Scrum Master? What Does a Scrum Master Do in Agile Teams?

A scrum master is a scrum professional who oversees whether scrum rules and regulations are followed in a team working on a project. Ideally, a scrum team is headed by a scrum master who instructs and guides everyone involved in the team to efficiently plan for a project and eventually execute it as per the pre-defined goals.

Major Scrum Master roles and responsibilities are defined below:

1. Manage regular standup meetings
2. Participate in meetings and acknowledge feedback
3. Establish a clear vision and short-term goals for the team
4. Focus on the areas that require improvement
5. Delegate responsibilities; set realistic targets
6. Administer the progress of the team

What is a Project Manager? What Does a Project Manager Do in Projects?

A project manager supervises a project from start to finish and is responsible for planning and organizing every detail of the project. They not only lead the team, but also define short-term and long-term goals that the entire team works towards. Moreover, a project manager is an organized, goal-oriented professional who integrates creativity and collaboration and deliberately performs the following key roles and responsibilities:

Major Product Manager roles and responsibilities are defined below:

1. Research and develop a project framework
2. Foster leadership among team members
3. Manage necessary resources for the project
4. Communicate with clients and stakeholders
5. Mitigate risks and other possible issues
6. Create timelines and regulate finances

Scrum Master vs Project Manager: Key Differences Explained

What are the Similarities between Scrum Masters and Project Managers?

• Shared Skills and Competencies – Both scrum masters and project managers share a set of core skills that include communication, management, and administration. The only difference is that the scrum master focuses on team building and the growth of the employees, whereas project managers have a more driven vision to execute a project effectively, by calculating the scope and resources.
• Overlapping Responsibilities – Though some responsibilities of the two positions might seem overlapping, their core accountabilities still vary. Though a few areas where their roles overlap include their likelihood to train others in the team, resolve project issues, and stay indifferent to the outcome (success or failure) of projects.
• Contribution to Project Success – In a scrum team, a product owner is held responsible for the success and failure of any project. A scrum master simply addresses issues, enables activities, and oversees the overall operations of the team to ensure Agile principles are followed. Whereas the project manager’s core focus is on the smooth completion of the tasks or projects being assigned to them, alongside managing resources and mitigating risks.

Scrum Masters Vs. Project Managers: Roles and Responsibilities

As discussed above a few times in this article, we will highlight the “roles and responsibilities” that both positions entail, in detail, right below:

1. A scrum master and a project manager both share the role of comprehensive project management and drive the outcome of any project or assignment they handle. Only their way of communicating, idea of collaboration, and work approach might differ.
2. The idea of project management might revolve around team handling and organization. Still, the scrum master always emphasizes openness and collaboration, whereas a project manager’s only goal is to get things done with a certain kind of power and persuasion.
3. For goal accomplishment,  a scrum master’s role within a team is to remain flexible, adaptive, and open to change. In contrast, there is no room for exploration and experimentation when it comes to handling a project as a manager. In most cases, a project manager is known to follow a specific roadmap that is defined by conventional ideas and customary procedures.
4. In a scrum team, the role of a scrum master is way more than supervising the team and getting things done. It is more about putting in the best of efforts to cultivate a team that values collaboration, learning, growth, and works together as a team to deliver success. But a project manager emphasizes proactive planning, coordination of activities, and time management.

Scrum Master vs Project Manager: Salary Comparison

•  Average Global Salaries

There is no specific data to denote the exact salary of the scrum master and the project manager. Because there are countless factors driving the salary range. It depends on the location, experience, exposure, economic, and geographic factors. Popular industries of the region, government norms, new employment policies, and company-specific factors can further add to this strategy to shape the global remuneration chart.

•  Salary by Region and Experience

As mentioned above, remuneration for these profiles heavily depends on the region they are in, at that point, and the experience they hold. Usually, metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, etc., see people earning higher salaries as compared to those living in rural areas. The skillset and the experience ( which includes their education, higher studies, professional degree, and certification courses they have taken up, and the companies they have worked with, and in general, their exposure in life) are a few factors of an individual that drastically impact the paycheck they earn.

What Skills Do You Need as a Scrum Master or Project Manager?

Scrum Master Skills

As a scrum master or anyone who is into the scrum methodology or practice in their day-to-day professional life or business operations, they must have a thorough understanding of scrum, followed by a set of soft skills, technical skills, and leadership skills. This includes organizational skills, strong communication and interpersonal skills, strategic thinking skills, etc, which will help them to master the complexities and technicalities involved in any project or task.

Furthermore, possessing a set of technical skills that include project management, software designing and development, along with programming and process incorporation, will help scrum masters and leaders to navigate any scrum project they pivot.

Project Manager Skills

On the other hand, a project manager must have a few core soft skills that enable them to function effectively and also efficiently manage multiple teams. Although there are many project management skills that a project manager should possess, the integral ones include effective communication, familiarity with popular project management software to run business operations smoothly, leadership skills, prioritization, planning, proper time management, customer service, and solving complex problems.

Besides, the technical skills that an aspiring project manager should hold are expertise in the project management methodologies and proficiency in Jira, Asana, Trello, Monday.com, ClickUp, Microsoft Project, etc. Knowledge of tools like Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel would be an added advantage, as it would help them synchronize and automate daily task updation. Having industry-oriented knowledge and prior experience in handling data, technical documentation, and projects would give them an edge over their competitors.

Certifications for Scrum Masters and Project Managers

We have enlisted the top scrum master certifications and the top Project Management certifications for you right below:

For Scrum Masters:

1. The Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification, provided by Scrum Alliance (which is the world’s prominent, non-profit organization offering Agile coaching, resources, and building a community for aspiring Scrum experts), is considered appropriate.
   Certification Benefits: Trains an individual with Scrum structure, team accountabilities, events, and artifacts, other than team implementation.

    

2. The Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification from Scrum.org (a mission-based organization, established by Ken Schwaber, who also happens to be the co-creator of the Scrum Framework, that offers training, certifications, and other valuable resources for Scrum learners ) is the most important. To take up this certification, prior knowledge of advanced Scrum and a generous experience as a Scrum Master are beneficial.Certification Benefits: Familiarizes a scrum master with how to use a scrum framework, and coordinate and collaborate with the scrum teams, other than assisting them with resolving complicated problems.

For Project Managers:

1. The Project Management Professional, also known as the PMP, offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI), which is a US-based Not-for-Profit Organization for Project Management, is considered to be useful.
    
2. The Certified Associate in Project Management, also known as CAPM, can be a preferable course or certification for those aspiring to be a project manager. This certification apprises individuals of the core principles of project management, including project handling, resource management, and financial management, and timely delivery of the project.
   Other preferable project management certifications include the PMI-ACP (PMI Agile Certified Practitioner), PRINCE2 Foundation (an entry-level certification) Course.

How to Choose Between Becoming a Scrum Master or a Project Manager?

Career Path Comparison: 

To understand which career path the two profiles would lead you to, you have to interpret the crux of both. If you see yourself as a mentor or leader, and look forward to continual learning and growth, you should work towards becoming a Scrum master and focus on product and software development, and building teams.

Career Path of a Scrum Master

Senior Scrum Master →Agile Coach Delivery Manager → Agile Transformation Head → Senior Scrum Master

On the other hand, if you like planning, tracking projects, and communicating with stakeholders to deliver measurable results, becoming a project manager is a worthwhile decision. Project managers primarily belong to a background of engineers, analysts, and business professionals, and have well-defined goals.

Career Path of a Project Manager

Senior Project Manager →Program Manager →Portfolio Manager → PMO Director

Which Role Fits Your Goals?

To decide which role you should take up for your career, take some time to think through and ask yourself about what exactly you enjoy doing. Do you think it is guiding others or leading projects? Do you want to empower teams or direct them? Does continuous improvement seem important to you or the successful delivery of projects?

• Try to become a Scrum Master: If working with people excites you and you love to interact with them for new ideas. If teamwork is important for you, and you have prior experience working in Agile environments.
• Choose a career as a Project Manager: If the goal is more important than the roadmap of a project, or you prioritize great planning over decent progress, a project manager is the ultimate role for you that you should take up.

How Are AI and Automation Changing These Roles?

Today, nearly every industry and every position is transitioning towards AI, and automation is significantly changing the way traditional settings and conventional modes of work operate. The roles of Scrum Masters and Project Managers are also gradually incorporating automation for effort-intensive jobs.

With smart use of AI, Scrum masters can prioritize work as per intensity and deadlines. AI today can optimize sprint planning, organize daily meetings, streamline backlog management, provide deep-rooted analysis, and monitor performance. This will enable them to focus on other responsibilities like strategic planning, team collaboration, innovation, and development, which AI cannot replace. 

Similarly, AI and automation have reshaped the role of a project manager to a great extent, as there are new technologies and software that can effortlessly manage repetitive tasks and managerial duties. Not only has AI and automation helped with task automation, tailored report generation, and problem solving, but also with resource allocation, team collaboration, real-time updates, and timely risk management.

The Future of Project Leadership in the Age of AI

We live in a world where everything is fast-paced and leveraged with the use of AI. Today, companies are moving more towards technology and limiting the room for humanism. Though this has saved a lot of time, effort, and complexities on the work front, people have also started realizing the shortcomings of AI in several aspects. It is undoubtedly true that AI cannot entirely replace humans when it comes to real-time analysis and deep-rooted understanding of subjects, but it has surely brought a lot of security in the risk-prone tasks we handle and the complicated projects that often do not close within the specified time.

The future of project leadership and management is no different. It will be driven and navigated smartly by AI, leaving a little sphere of work and exploration for us humans. This is the reason why even most of the top-performing individuals fear being replaced or declared obsolete. But what people fail to realize is that AI or any smart tool like these can only contribute to our life and work to some extent, and cannot entirely replace the nuances and bits and pieces that humans leave behind with their work. So, it is important to let both technology and humans play their part and integrate AI to only enhance quality and increase productivity.

Conclusion

If you have stayed with us till here, we hope you have already got some clarity on how both the roles (scrum master and project manager) differ and how both of them have distinct roles to play in any organization. It is not always about comparison, but how both differ and drive success to a project in their own way.

After all, it is ultimately on the individual to decide which one of the two they would take up and how that would impact and influence their career roadmap. Always consider the skillsets, qualifications, and other criteria before you choose one that works best for you. Do not forget to consider secondary factors like the location, the industry you work for, the finances, your education, professional background, and preference.

FAQs

1. Can one person be both Scrum Master and Project Manager?

   Yes, a person can be both - a Scrum Master and a Project Manager. Although both roles are considered conflicting, due to the different responsibilities and command, people can choose to be both in their careers, if need be. But ideally, it is not advised for an individual to be both, owing to the complexities involved in both roles. Even if some companies end up combining both roles by hiring one individual for both profiles, doing so affects the overall functionality of the roles and therefore disrupts the operations.

2. Who earns more: Scrum Master or Project Manager?

   Before choosing either of the roles as their career, people often evaluate which one would be the most suitable for them. Surely, countless other factors come into play when you decide which role to consider to pivot your career. One significant factor that people look for is the “salary”.

   Ideally, the salary range for both profiles is somewhere between 14lakh to 20lakh. This again is affected by multiple factors - years of experience, the location you are in, etc. For a Scrum Master, the average salary is around 20 lakh per annum, and for the project manager, it ranges somewhere between 15lakh to 30lakh.

3. Is a Scrum Master higher than a Project Manager?

   No! A Scrum Master is not above a Project Manager. Rather, it is the other way round. While both profiles have different sets of responsibilities, the project manager surely navigates through a much broader range of duties; therefore, they have higher control over projects, their scope, timeline, and resource management.

4. Which role is better for Agile teams?

   There is no better role when it comes to choosing between a scrum master and a project manager. While a scrum master is essentially responsible for training the Agile team on Scrum principles, the project manager takes care of all the integral aspects of any project, no matter what the size, scope, or budget is.

5. When Should You Hire a Scrum Master and a Project Manager?

   A company that either works on agile or is planning to move towards that methodology should hire a scrum master to guide and navigate through the team’s responsibilities. Additionally, hiring a scrum master immensely helps to build efficiency and effectiveness in operations and task completion of the scrum team. Whereas a project manager works best when hired to handle complex projects on tight deadlines or is required to sail through any confusing or tricky situations.