coffee and eggs for two 

A ridiculous mandatory procedure passed down from management or another department which only serves to slow down communication or production.

Derived from an episode of Danger Man/ Secret Agent starring Patrick McGoohan in which two spies meet at a cafe and are forced to use the code phrases, "What'll we have, coffee and eggs for two?" with the response "Why not make it scrambled?" in spite of the fact that they know each other.

It is also sometimes shortened to "servings of coffee and eggs" if more than one procedure appears at a time.

I was late to the meeting because my report was stuck in coffee and eggs for two.

coffee and eggs for two by Jen Minola July 31, 2005