Why ask this question?????
Why are you asking PPrune? You should be asking your training department, and they should answer your questions in two ways.
First, they should directly answer your questions.
Second, they should 'direct' you to the written SOP that answers your
specific questions.
It is essential that you get BOTH answers! Any training department
guru worth his salt can and does reference his/her answer to an SOP.
The Airbus SOP is very explicit, both in the FCOM and the FCTM. They even publish diagrams that illustrate the descent and approach profiles.
THESE PROFILES WORK!!!!! PROVEN!!!!
Your company's SOPs may differ from Airbus. U.S. airlines typically do vary from manufacturers' SOPs. I understand that airlines in the rest of the world, many times, use the manufacturer's SOPs.
Either way....
If your company's SOPs do not seem to work, they should be changed. Again, a friendly contact with your training department representative can notify them of a problem.
Airlines, today, that are worth a damn, will be open to SOP changes...to ensure the SOPs are relevant, that they work, that they work all the time, and that they protect the crew from Chief-Pilot-Office carpet dances...or worse. (e.g. violations, accidents, death and destruction)
My former airline (I'm retired) required that, under normal circumstances, we do idle descents. We had the option of 'Managed' or 'Open Descents'. The caveats were (1). the last 1000 feet of descent, we limit the vertical speed to between 500 FPM and 1500 FPM, and (2) for small altitude changes, we should use 'Vertical Speed'... (e.g. 1000 feet or 2000 feet altitude change...it's OK and even better to use vertical speed.)
Airbus even explicitly and illustratively (diagrams) dictates 'gates' as Young Paul suggests. They do this, again, in the FCTM and the FCOM, but also in other Airbus pubs, such as Flight Operations Briefing Notes.....
My suggestion: Find authoritative documents and stick your nose in them. Learn the SOPs inside and out. Know them and routinely practice them. Other pilots will be amazed with your flying skills. The training department people will smile everytime they see you. You'll earn the respect and admiration of everyone.
Fly safe,
PantLoad