And if you current Airbus-flyers will permit me to intrude briefly into your conversation, the other VITAL discipline is that the person who has made the mode-change on the FCU (as described by vilas) does NOT call the result on the FMAs. If the call is to have any monitoring value it MUST be made by the OTHER pilot.
If - due to inattention, high workload or R/T operations - the other pilot fails to call an FMA change that is required by the airline's FCOM, the pilot who has made the FCU selection can choose a suitable moment to ask him/her to "Check FMAs?" In a continuing high workload situation, of course, that may not be practicable. In that case, wait for the next required FMA call. If that is not forthcoming, it may indicate that the other pilot is overloaded (or possibly incapacitated).
Or just have the discipline to, as PF, only call something that is already on the FMA and as PNF, not call "checked" without looking at the FMA first... Pretty simple really.