Automate Risk Treatment Tasks with Google Sheets for GRC Compliance

This n8n workflow streamlines the process of managing and tracking risk treatment tasks, leveraging Google Sheets for data storage and conditional logic for task assignment or escalation. It's designed to assist organizations in maintaining GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) standards by automating the initial steps of risk response.

What it does

This workflow performs the following key steps:

1. Triggers on a Schedule: The workflow is initiated at predefined intervals, allowing for regular checks of risk treatment statuses.
2. Reads Data from Google Sheets: It connects to a specified Google Sheet to retrieve information, likely containing details about identified risks, their treatment plans, and current statuses.
3. Applies Conditional Logic (If): The workflow evaluates the data read from Google Sheets using an "If" condition. This step likely checks for specific criteria, such as a risk's status (e.g., "Open," "Pending," "Overdue") or other relevant attributes.
4. Edits Fields (Set): Based on the outcome of the "If" condition, the workflow can modify or enrich the data. This might involve setting new statuses, assigning tasks, or preparing data for further processing.
5. Routes Based on Multiple Conditions (Switch): A "Switch" node provides more advanced conditional routing, allowing the workflow to take different paths based on various values or states derived from the Google Sheet data. This could be used to categorize risks, assign them to different teams, or trigger different subsequent actions based on the risk type or severity.
6. Provides Documentation (Sticky Note): Includes a sticky note for internal documentation, which is useful for explaining parts of the workflow or providing context for future maintainers.

Prerequisites/Requirements

To use this workflow, you will need:

• n8n Instance: A running instance of n8n.
• Google Sheets Account: Access to a Google Sheets document where your risk treatment tasks and data are stored.
• Google Sheets Credentials: Configured Google Sheets credentials in n8n to allow the workflow to read from and potentially write to your spreadsheet.

Setup/Usage

1. Import the Workflow: Download the provided JSON and import it into your n8n instance.
2. Configure Google Sheets Credentials:
   • In the "Google Sheets" node, select or create a new Google Sheets OAuth2 or API Key credential.
   • Ensure the credential has the necessary permissions to access your target spreadsheet.
3. Specify Google Sheet Details:
   • In the "Google Sheets" node, configure the "Spreadsheet ID" and "Sheet Name" to point to your risk treatment data.
   • Adjust the "Operation" (e.g., "Read Data") and other settings as needed for your specific use case.
4. Adjust Conditional Logic:
   • Modify the "If" node to define the conditions for evaluating your risk data (e.g., {{ $json.status === "Overdue" }}).
   • Configure the "Switch" node to handle multiple conditional paths based on different risk attributes or statuses.
5. Configure "Edit Fields" (Set) Node:
   • Adjust the "Edit Fields" node to transform or set new values based on your workflow's logic. This could involve adding a "Next Action" field or updating a "Last Checked" timestamp.
6. Set Schedule Trigger:
   • Configure the "Schedule Trigger" node to define how often the workflow should run (e.g., every day, once a week).
7. Activate the Workflow: Once configured, activate the workflow to start automating your risk treatment tasks.