I routinely talk to employees at client companies who receive anywhere from 100 to 500 e-mails per day. Do they read them all? Don’t be absurd. They scan the subject lines for the ones they’ve been waiting for, then delete the rest. Among those deleted—or, at the very least, not acted upon are some that are asking for a decision or information needed to make a decision. Not answering holds up the process and slows the pace of business.

So says a study out of the UK commissioned by palmOne. Sixty-one percent of respondents said a delay in responding to e-mails delays business decisions.

It’s all about etiquette, according to the study. The 750 participants contributed to the creation of the “Seven Deadly E-Mail Sins:”

* Ignoring e-mails
* Lying about whether e-mail messages were received or replied to
* Presuming people know your message is urgent
* Sending long e-mails when only a few lines will suffice
* Sending e-mails to huge lists of people who don’t want or need them
* Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected arguments
* Tactless and inappropriate tone of voice

CNN has the story.