New VP struggles - asking seasoned VPs for help

To use a basketball analogy, you are now the point guard. The best point guards run the offense which can mean anything from setting up others score, deferring to others who can then take the basketball and score, and also generate offense and scoring yourself. To put that in IB terms, you now have a team of junior bankers and senior bankers that you need to make sure are in the best position to work accurately and efficiently. 

Setting up others to score: each day, ideally at the beginning so that your juniors aren't sitting idly waiting for you, you need to organize your thoughts around what needs to get done and when it needs to get done by. Often this includes shelling out decks (with as specific comments/direction as possible), drawing up slides, and allowing the juniors to work independently on the deck which will free you up to concentrate on other things. You now have years of associate experience and know what a work product needs to look like and say. Your juniors don't necessarily have the benefit of that so be as specific as possible when describing what you need them to do. Don't just say "you heard the MD, make it happen". In all likelihood you will get back a product that is not what you had in mind and will spend more time up on the backend then if you had just sat down and spent an hour or two in the morning really thinking about what needs to be in the deck.

Derring to others to score: There are certain tasks that others (both junior and senior) need to be doing that doesn't necessarily involve you but you need to be responsible for ensuring they get done. Example (junior): you are in diligence on a sellside and the team needs to send out an updated tracker and list of management to-dos/priorities each night so keep the group on track. Your associate/analyst should be able to handle this so just let them take ownership and make your job ensuring that it happens each day. Example (senior): you are reaching out to prospective buyers on a sellside and you know MD has great relationships with x,y,z buyers. The CIP is ready and NDAs are going out, you need to make sure the MD is actually making calls and keeping the process on track so buyers aren't getting behind.

Scoring yourself: Your job as a VP isn't to just sit around and remind people about things and wait for the juniors to do the work. When you sit down in the morning you should figure out what is the most efficient way to get things done and that will include you taking on tasks as well. Feel free and empowered to shift the PPT and excel work to the juniors (but again with actual direction, not just straight delegation) but there are a whole host of tasks that very much can fall in the VP's lap. Are there sensitive documents you need to decide if they belong in the dataroom (and at what stage)? Did buyer y come ask for a call with the bankers to discuss questions they had on the CIP (this is likely your responsibility)? Is there some complexities with the NWC analysis that you need to think through and create an argument for? Is management slacking on their diligence questions or do they need your help prioritizing? The list is endless

Hope this helps. A lot of the examples are deal related but you also need to start thinking about business development too. This doesn't necessarily mean cold-calling funds and drumming up business. It more likely means harvesting the relationships you make with principals and other mid level people at counterparties. The principal you spoke to about the CIP, maybe at the end of the call say "hey we have other opportunities coming to market in the future, it would be great to sit down and figure out what areas your fund is interested in". That's a good way to make warm introductions and get in the loop