Before you serve up that next change to your GRC system, make sure it’s been properly seasoned with strategy, structure and sustainability. These eight principles are your kitchen-tested checklist – ensuring every update adds value, preserves integrity and blends seamlessly into the broader GRC recipe. Let’s dig in:
Key Takeaways
- Before updating your GRC system, ensure it adds value and follows eight key principles.
- Each change must clearly connect to Governance, Risk, or Compliance, enhancing these pillars without clutter.
- Prioritize trust in data, sustainability of features, and avoid automating chaotic processes in your GRC.
- Follow best practices and recipes from GRC providers to avoid compatibility and support issues.
- Respect the Core Data Model as it is essential; changes to foundational elements require careful consideration.
Table of Contents
1. Serve the Business Value First
Every change should come with a clear, compelling reason for being on the menu. If it doesn’t deliver measurable value, whether it’s boosting efficiency, improving insight or enhancing risk and compliance decisions, it’s not worth the calories.
2. Tie It to G, R or C
If the change doesn’t clearly support Governance, Risk or Compliance, it’s off-mission. Every update should strengthen one of these pillars; otherwise, it’s just noise on the plate. Don’t let your GRC solution become a dumping ground for orphaned apps that don’t add flavor to the dish.
3. Make It Shareable (Securely)
Good data is meant to be shared with the right people. If a change limits visibility or creates silos, it’s not helping. A great GRC solution brings data together to increase context, just like a well-crafted charcuterie board brings people together around a shared experience.
4. Trust the Ingredients
If users can’t trust the data, they won’t use the system. Every change must preserve or enhance the integrity of the content – clean, consistent, and credible. Just like poor-quality ingredients can ruin a dish, bad data spoils the entire GRC experience.
5. Keep It Sustainable
A flashy feature that no one can maintain is just garnish. Changes must be operationally sustainable. They must be easy to support, scalable and built for the long haul. Garnish may look good, but if the core dish doesn’t deliver, what’s the point?
6. Don’t Automate Chaos
Never automate a messy process. If your process is half-baked, putting it in a GRC oven just creates a faster mess. Enlist a Sous Chef (a proven partner) to help refine your process before you start the automating that process.
7. Follow the Recipe
GRC providers offer best-practice blueprints for their product for a reason. Straying too far from their recommended implementation playbook can lead to compatibility issues, upgrade headaches and support nightmares. Master chefs create recipes based on years of experience; respect the balance they’ve built.
8. Respect the Core Recipe
The Enterprise Core Data Model is your GRC system’s version of the Cajun Holy Trinity of onions, bell peppers and celery. If a change alters foundational elements in the Enterprise Core Data Model such as “what a Medium Risk means” or how items in the Core Data Model are being currently used, then the change needs a slow simmer of scrutiny. One wrong move can throw off the entire flavor profile.
If you’re short on time, here is the secret to a GRC solution that doesn’t leave a bad taste in the business’s mouth:
- Prep Before You Cook: Never automate a messy process. If your workflow is half-baked, putting it in a GRC oven will only create a faster mess.
- Respect the “Trinity”: Your Core Data Model is your foundation. Messing with foundational Risk definitions is like over-salting the base – once it’s in there, it’s impossible to fix the whole batch.
- Focus on the Feast, Not the Garnish: Flashy features are just parsley if they don’t provide measurable Business Value. If a change doesn’t make the “dish” (your GRC Solution) more shareable, trustworthy or compliant, send it back to the kitchen.
Bon Appétit – now go build a GRC system that’s actually worthy of a Michelin star!
Ready to apply these GRC best practices in a scalable, purpose-built platform? Book a demo to see how Onspring helps you operationalize governance, strengthen risk visibility, and maintain compliance with confidence.
