Adjusting width of one column

[cinci-hal]

This is kind of a two part question. I have a table in my Microsoft Word document and have made one of the columns a numbered list. That column, however, automatically puts an extra margin or amount of padding on the non-justified side. Because I have limited space, I have tried making that column width as small as possible, but I still end up having more white space than is needed. I would like to eliminate some of that white space (margin, padding, or what ever) without having the numbered list clipped. Is that possible?

Secondly, As I enter data into my table, I find I need to adjust the width of one column, which inevitably effects the width of the column next to it. Usually I want a different column to have it's width effected, not the one next to it, so I end up having to adjust each column one-by-one, until I get to that column that I want effected, which is very tedious. Is there a way to adjust the width of one column while, in one step, not effecting the width of the column next to it, but the width of another column instead?